Would cards really be that bad?
DragonSword
First Post
I thought that RPGs and Wargames now tend to be moving away from using cards, as TCGs and CCGs took that niche. I mean, AD&D featured cards, and they were dispensed with in 3E, and other games like Warhammer FB used to have magic cards, but now don't.
Lalato
Adventurer
Cards... for D&D? Randomized? It's possible, but highly unlikely. If it does happen, they'll use the D&D Minis and Three Dragon Ante models.
As many of you know... D&D Minis is a collectible miniatures/card game. You don't need any D&D Minis whatsoever to play the RPG. However, the rules are heavily influenced by the use of minis... and D&D Minis sure are convenient. Again, I reiterate. D&D Minis aren't required to play the game. They don't add any new rules to the game, but despite that, I have a gigantic collection.
How could the D&D Minis model be used to create other randomized accessories for D&D? D&D Minis takes care of monsters. How about another card game that incorporated Spells and Magic Items. It could be completely randomized. On one side it would have the card game mechanic and on the other side it would have the D&D stats for that item/spell. There might even be cards for meta-magic feats.
Yet another card game based on the same basic mechanic could be made for Feats and Character Enhancements. I'm not quite sure how either game would work, but there you go. I suppose you could even combine it all into one game.
The other model, is Three Dragon Ante. Three Dragon Ante is entirely new accessory for D&D. It is not based on any D&D game mechanic that I know of, but it can be used as part of an RPG session. Three Dragon Ante is not randomized. A game like the randomized game I described above could be made with the Three Dragon Ante model. Again, it could be completely unnecessary for the RPG, but it could add a new element to the game. The bonus would be that the cards would also contain the standard RPG information on one side so that players and GMs could use them for easy reference.
One note about using cards for easy reference. People keep pointing out that it would be easier to just look up spells in the book. If I have a spellcaster and I have a standard set of spells that I use regularly... I just need to keep that subset of cards handy. I don't need the enire deck. Looking through a smaller set of cards doesn't take very long and I would say is faster than looking through the book.
As I said at the beginning... It's certainly possible that we would see some randomized card accessory, but I'm not in the least bit convinced that we'll see such a beast. Would I buy it? Probably not. I spend enough money on D&D Minis and Anachronism. That's all the money I plan to spend on collectibles for the next several years. WotC would have to make a very compelling argument for me to ditch either of those games.
--sam
As many of you know... D&D Minis is a collectible miniatures/card game. You don't need any D&D Minis whatsoever to play the RPG. However, the rules are heavily influenced by the use of minis... and D&D Minis sure are convenient. Again, I reiterate. D&D Minis aren't required to play the game. They don't add any new rules to the game, but despite that, I have a gigantic collection.
How could the D&D Minis model be used to create other randomized accessories for D&D? D&D Minis takes care of monsters. How about another card game that incorporated Spells and Magic Items. It could be completely randomized. On one side it would have the card game mechanic and on the other side it would have the D&D stats for that item/spell. There might even be cards for meta-magic feats.
Yet another card game based on the same basic mechanic could be made for Feats and Character Enhancements. I'm not quite sure how either game would work, but there you go. I suppose you could even combine it all into one game.
The other model, is Three Dragon Ante. Three Dragon Ante is entirely new accessory for D&D. It is not based on any D&D game mechanic that I know of, but it can be used as part of an RPG session. Three Dragon Ante is not randomized. A game like the randomized game I described above could be made with the Three Dragon Ante model. Again, it could be completely unnecessary for the RPG, but it could add a new element to the game. The bonus would be that the cards would also contain the standard RPG information on one side so that players and GMs could use them for easy reference.
One note about using cards for easy reference. People keep pointing out that it would be easier to just look up spells in the book. If I have a spellcaster and I have a standard set of spells that I use regularly... I just need to keep that subset of cards handy. I don't need the enire deck. Looking through a smaller set of cards doesn't take very long and I would say is faster than looking through the book.
As I said at the beginning... It's certainly possible that we would see some randomized card accessory, but I'm not in the least bit convinced that we'll see such a beast. Would I buy it? Probably not. I spend enough money on D&D Minis and Anachronism. That's all the money I plan to spend on collectibles for the next several years. WotC would have to make a very compelling argument for me to ditch either of those games.
--sam
WizarDru
Adventurer
As an interesting option and reminder, they are swell. As a core mechanic, they would be horrible.
I once ran a Castle Falkenstein game, which used a standard deck of playing cards for the resolution mechanic. It was a great setting, and a terrible mechanic. Particularly since it removed most of the power from the players in favor of the GM.
To make such a mechanic useful, it would end up requiring players and DMs to construct their own decks, with specific advantages and restrictions to each. This is not, in and of itself, an insurmountable challenge. However, it adds a complicated extra level of abstraction to a game without really adding any gameplay benefit that I can see. If anything, it pulls the players and the DM out of the game more, as they have to meta-game the mechanic to proceed with play. ("No, no! Let me attack the kobold, so I can use up my hand and draw some more cards before we reach the lich!") Removing choices and options is never a benefit, in my eyes. I think it could be a fun system, but it wouldn't be D&D.
I once ran a Castle Falkenstein game, which used a standard deck of playing cards for the resolution mechanic. It was a great setting, and a terrible mechanic. Particularly since it removed most of the power from the players in favor of the GM.
To make such a mechanic useful, it would end up requiring players and DMs to construct their own decks, with specific advantages and restrictions to each. This is not, in and of itself, an insurmountable challenge. However, it adds a complicated extra level of abstraction to a game without really adding any gameplay benefit that I can see. If anything, it pulls the players and the DM out of the game more, as they have to meta-game the mechanic to proceed with play. ("No, no! Let me attack the kobold, so I can use up my hand and draw some more cards before we reach the lich!") Removing choices and options is never a benefit, in my eyes. I think it could be a fun system, but it wouldn't be D&D.
WizarDru
Adventurer
Henry said:Ah, Heroquest - D&D in a box.
It's also really good to get younger players interested in D&D. Note to self: run next HQ adventure this weekend.
Similar Threads
