What do you want to see in Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica?

[MonkeezOnFire]

I think the existing summoning and binding spells would work for that.

I. e. a druid using "green" magic would use Conjure Woodland Creatures.

You would likely want to expand the number of summoning/conjuring spells with some homebrew or 3rd party, 5e is a little light if trying to play a "MtG" style campaign.

I agree that the game currently supports summoning. But my question was more about the nature of planeswalkers as it's been a while since I've delved into the mtg lore. Can all of the neo walkers summon? If so it would also be appropriate to add casting a conjure spell X times per day to planeswalking characters. I would probably also rule that the planeswalker can choose exactly what they summon which is against the rulings of Crawford for these spells.

I ask because I've seen a bunch of posts now that basically say "planeswalking is just add planeshift as a feature on top of regular class." The summoning is something that in my head is also iconic for those characters so I'm wondering if I just have a wrong understanding of what planeswalkers are capable of.

 

[Kite474]

I agree that the game currently supports summoning. But my question was more about the nature of planeswalkers as it's been a while since I've delved into the mtg lore. Can all of the neo walkers summon? If so it would also be appropriate to add casting a conjure spell X times per day to planeswalking characters. I would probably also rule that the planeswalker can choose exactly what they summon which is against the rulings of Crawford for these spells.

I ask because I've seen a bunch of posts now that basically say "planeswalking is just add planeshift as a feature on top of regular class." The summoning is something that in my head is also iconic for those characters so I'm wondering if I just have a wrong understanding of what planeswalkers are capable of.

Nowadays no one really summons stuff. Jace mainly uses mind magic, Lilly makes zombies, etc. Theres no need to have them have inate summoning stuff.

If anything a Spark and Walking can just be treated as a background or feat

 

[SkidAce]

I agree that the game currently supports summoning. But my question was more about the nature of planeswalkers as it's been a while since I've delved into the mtg lore. Can all of the neo walkers summon? If so it would also be appropriate to add casting a conjure spell X times per day to planeswalking characters. I would probably also rule that the planeswalker can choose exactly what they summon which is against the rulings of Crawford for these spells.

I ask because I've seen a bunch of posts now that basically say "planeswalking is just add planeshift as a feature on top of regular class." The summoning is something that in my head is also iconic for those characters so I'm wondering if I just have a wrong understanding of what planeswalkers are capable of.

I would also let planeswalkers choose their summons.

We never tried to recreate specific planeswalkers in our games, however....

We did develop "planewalkers" of our own off of some of our classic decks, such as Lord of the Pit, Shivan Dragon, Serra Angel etc.

The "Serra Angel" planeswalker (Seraphina the Astral Walker if I recall the name) was mainly a paladin class, with planeshift. Naturally summmoning was/is an important part for that character, so we added some minion (not the 4e term) controlling / summoning spells to the paladin spellcasting framework (i.e. lowered spell levels for some summoning spells, and she had a trumpet (artifact) of summoning angels. That was enough to recreate the feel.

The planewalker known as Eye of the Storm was just straight wizard with planeshift, with lots of blasting spells, a rod of fire, and a mana battery. (spell level storage)

BL: from the games I remember, some planeswalker emphasize summoning more than others, much like custom decks may.

So we just multiclassed, or added spellcasting as needed. We had a fighter/rogue planeswalker who did almost no casting or summoning. It fit the flavor for us...

 

[Ancalagon]

I want a sidebar discussing "color magic" and Planeswalkers... And for them to appear nowhere else in the book.

I'm interested in "Ravnica envisioned as a purely D&D setting," not "D&D meets Magic: the Gathering." So I'd rather they rework Ravnica to work with D&D magic and D&D classes, rather than trying to shoehorn MtG concepts into D&D.

I like this plan. The colors could be nothing more than philosophies

 

[guachi]

I want to see what makes the setting interesting. This doesn't have to be some major change to rules or classes, it can simply be something that's well written and well executed. The setting needs to come alive.

ETA: When I played Magic heavily from its beginning I cared nothing for any lore and the settings. The flavor text and pictures on the cards were interesting to read/look at (otherwise it'd be nothing but black text on a white background) but of little real in-game benefit. For a D&D setting, all that fluff is the only thing that would draw me to the setting, even if all I did was Strip Mine it to flavor my home game.

 

[Mistwell]

An explanation for how a fantasy city-planet feeds it's population that is better than "a wizard did it.

Based on what I've read and listened to so far, it's handled mostly by the Golgari Swarm, one of the ten guilds. They grow food (mostly fungal based) in a massive series of Undercity rot-farms, fertilized by the carcasses of decomposing creatures, and tended by mindless plant-zombies. They also handle the sewage system. It's run by dark elves who specialize in the magic of decay and rot as a source of life. Despite association with dark elves and necromancy, they're not "bad guys" and are generally considered neutral and essential for the city.

 

[Mistwell]

Interesting.

And how about fresh water?

Maybe it rains nearly constantly, so rooftop collectors/cisterns stay full.

Or maybe the city covers the entire land area of the planet, but there are still extensive rivers/lakes/seas/oceans.

And what's going on at the poles?

...

Yeah, I hope they come up with at least plausible answers to some of these questions. A card game is one thing, an RPG setting is another.

While not the source for all of Ravnica, from what I can tell based on my readings about the setting, the district Ravnica named Favarial supplies a meaningful amount of it to neighboring regions. Favarial floats on a freshwater lake, and fresh water distribution to neighboring regions is handled by a self proclaimed River Guild. The sale of fresh water has made Favarial one of the wealthiest districts in Ravnica.

 

[MarkB]

I'd be perfectly happy with a magical explanation for keeping the city fed, so long as it was well thought-out. Maybe a sect of urban Druids using plant growth to enhance growing areas, and control weather to conjure rainstorms over major reservoirs, magic items creating daylight effects for indoor / subterranean plantations, etc.

 

[Ancalagon]

Based on what I've read and listened to so far, it's handled mostly by the Golgari Swarm, one of the ten guilds. They grow food (mostly fungal based) in a massive series of Undercity rot-farms, fertilized by the carcasses of decomposing creatures, and tended by mindless plant-zombies. They also handle the sewage system. It's run by dark elves who specialize in the magic of decay and rot as a source of life. Despite association with dark elves and necromancy, they're not "bad guys" and are generally considered neutral and essential for the city.

This is a good example of the creative process behind Ravnica. So you have a green-black faction. How does that work in the game? How are they? What do they do? the Golgari Swarm was the answer... but you really don't "need" the colors after this do you? So it's very usable in a D&D setting without any outrageous "MgT-ing" the game.

edit: In other words, I think that a lot of the lore of Ravnica, while created to "justify" dual color decks, actually stands on its own.