Would cards really be that bad?

[Vraille Darkfang]

As a Mod beat me to initiative on the 4th ed trhead (wondered why my submit post button kept giving me an error).

I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of Collectable Option was flung about during various Brain-Storming Sessions (esp as seeing how the Minatures game is doing opposed to how Chainlmail Tanked). When/If Design Meetings start happening.

Will we get some sort of Card Sytem with the next editon?

Wouldn't surprise me.

Would we get a Random Card System?

That Would Surprise me, though I can see some sort of RPGA Tournament Niche based on Random Cards.

I mean. some sort of Spell Card products has been available for quite a while. I still have my 2nd ed Spell Cardxs somewhere.

I can even see a subset of the D&D game based on cards. Spelllfire Reborn!

In fact I might enjoy Random Encouter packs.

Say a set of stat cards (traps/Monsters/Treasures) designed for various Party Levels. It might make for a fun weekend game. If it had killer art, I'd buy it.

I might be opposed to a Mandatory Collectable Aspect to the Game, but an optional Add-on might be fun every now & again.

So, is it the Very Idea of Collectability that you detest, or just the potential of HAVING to buy random bits to make a character you want.

And seeing how this was supposed to go onto a thread that got locked down, please keep it civil.

Heck I can see a random DM "Encounter Pack" as a fun thing I might buy for my 3rd ed game nights. (Any D20 publishers out there Interested?).

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

Man, I can't wait to see where *this* thread goes.

[Sits down, puts feet up, starts munching popcorn]

 

[kenobi65]

I think you've hit the nail on the head...it isn't the idea of cards that most people seem to be opposed to, it's the idea of introducing a randomized / collectible aspect to the rules.

 

[Crothian]

it won't work for a serious RPG. If the only way my fighter can get power attack is to get the card, well that's just dumb. If it did happen, I'd quit for a little while, wait for wsomeone to scan them or just type the cards up on the net and play with all of them at that point.

 

[KenM]

If you need to go out and buy "booster packs" to get feat cards or whatever to play the type of charcter you want in an RPG, then you don't get all the rules in the core books, its no longer an RPG.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Hey, sure. I mean, what do most WotC titles have? Spells, Feats, PrCs, etc. Why put them in the books? Just sell sets of cards instead. Don't want the Complete Arcane in its entirety? Just buy the spells by themselves in conveneint card form. Buy the Complete Warrior's feats, and buy the Complete Adventurer's Prestige Classes! I still have my 2E Deck of Wizard Spells, after all, and it was one of the best purchases ever. That would leave the books for more complex things, like new rule variants, spell systems, and campaign specific rules changes that take up more room than would fit on a card, and are more flavorful.

It'll never happen, though, because then people wouldn't buy books.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Cards were tried once before with SAGA, during the Fifth Age Dragonlance era. It didn't go over too well, even though SAGA was an award-winning system.

Having a separate card line based on the RPG is fine. Replacing dice - not so much.

 

[atom crash]

I think WotC research shows that the bulk of gamers are occasional gamers rather than the subset that identifies itself as hardcore (buy-every-supplement) gamers. I fall somewhere in between; I buy many supplements but by no means all of them.

As it stands, I can make a character for the simple cost of $30 (PHB) or less (if I borrow my friend's PHB and then choose class, race, feats, skills, etc. from the SRD).

I'd be sorely upset if the game that I love changed such that I had to buy multiple random packs of cards in order to build a rogue with improved initiative and a shortsword or a dwarven fighter with power attack and cleave. I'd most likely continue to play D&D 3.5 and never buy a product for the newer version again. So WotC would lose me as a consumer.

Why? Because I can't afford to buy enough cards to ensure I get the basic range of options I want. And if I can't get the options I want, the game is not worth playing. Even if I could afford to buy that many cards, I wouldn't want to, because it would mean I would have to eat out less or buy less DVDs or CDs or go to fewer museums or art events or whatever. I'm a 30-something-year-old guy who doesn't want to spend my disposable income on playing cards, no matter what kind of cards they are.

The card game concept is cool, don't get me wrong. I love to play Munchkin with my gaming group. But I don't want the card game to replace the pen-and-paper game. In other words, a D&D-type card game would be fun, but I wouldn't want the card-based version to be the current supported incarnation of D&D.

 

[Dog Moon]

I'd only like the idea of cards if they had spells and basic monster/NPC information on them for easy access to the info you need. I'm casting Fireball? Well I have that card in front of me so I can look at it without having to go to my book and flip through the pages until I find it. I guess kinda like the summoned monster cards I've heard about with all the pertinent info on them.

As for CCGs, I would HATE to have my game turn into that. I personally hate the fact that the miniatures are collectible. I woulda bought a bunch if they weren't because I don't want to play whatever game that they were partially designed for, but just want to use them with my mat to add a little color to the game. Fortunately, miniatures aren't NECESSARY, so I can continue playing without worrying about not having. As for cards being mandatory and random, well, that's just icky.

 

[Umbran]

There's a huge difference between cards as a means to organize and reference game materials, and playing cards used as an actual game mechanic.

One, and only one, RPG I know of has put cards to good use. That's Deadlands - and it uses a standard poker deck, instead of collectibles, and playing cards are thematically appropriate for the setting.

Now, if D&D wants to incorporate... I dunno, maybe tarot decks as an optional mechanic (beyond the Deck of Many Things), then I might not gripe so much.