The Raven and the Stormcrow

A few months ago I talked about this card game I was making. For some reason I forget, I never actually posted the full rules. I recently handed my playtest cards to Celedor, so I figured I'd finish off what I started here.


----------

PART II: COMBAT CARDS (continued).

There are two types of Combat cards: Events and Wounds. These differ in the length of time they stay in play. After an Event is played, it produces its effect and immediately goes to the discard pile. After a Wound is played, it must attach to a target Hunter.

You can quickly distinguish Events and Wounds by looking at the top left corner of the card. Wounds have a damage box but Events do not. In addition, the type will be declared in the first line of the text box.


There are three traits which are associated with Wounds: Shallow, Light, and Heavy. A Shallow Wound automatically goes to the discard pile at the end of any player's turn . Light Wounds and Heavy Wounds will both stay attached indefinitely. However, Light Wounds can be healed naturally over time, during the end of the turn (see below).

A Combat card that has the trait "Action" in the first line of its text box will require and consume your current Action. On the other hand, "Reaction" cards do not consume Actions; they can be played only in response to certain conditions, as stated on the card.

----------

PART III: Starting the Game

You need:
1. A Group of HUNTERS
2. A COMBAT deck
3. An opponent who also has #1 and #2

You start the game by choosing your Hunters. Your Hunters must have a total Renown less than or equal to 40 points. You will not be able to recruit new Hunters for the rest of the game.

Your Combat deck must have at least 40 Combat cards. Shuffle it up and draw 4 cards.



Once everyone is ready, players take their turns one at a time. The player with the most number of Hunters goes first. Play proceeds by each player taking turns alternately.

The game begins on the first player's first turn.

----------

PART IV: The Turn Structure

Let us look at the structure of your turn. After this turn is completed, your opponent will then take a turn. After that, you take another turn and so on.

Pre Combat

At the start of your turn, assign one of your Hunters to attack, and another Hunter (not yours) to defend. You can only assign one of each, though you could choose not to attack at all. These Hunters enter combat opposing each other. Combat now starts.

Combat

The defending player and attacking player may take Actions alternately. The defending player gets the first Action. These Actions can be spent to play Combat cards with the "Action" trait. Combat cards must be performed by a Hunter in combat, and can only target a Hunter who is in combat. A Hunter can only perform Combat cards with a Skill requirement less than or equal to their own Skill level.

You can also spend your Actions on abilities on cards in play in combat. If you have a Hunter (or Item) with an ability that reads "Action: [effect]" then you may spend an Action to perform the effect. Activated abilities on cards not in combat have no effect unless otherwise specified.

Each attacking Hunter has the ability "Action: Withdraw from combat." This ability may be used any time it is his turn to play an Action. If a player withdraws (using this method or a card effect) then combat ends, ALL Hunters go home and neither player can play additional Actions.

If a Hunter has no Health left, she is KO'd and immediately leaves play. KO'd Hunters are placed in their opponent's Victory Pile.

Post Combat

You may heal one "Light Wound" from each of your Hunters (only if it is your turn). All "Shallow Wounds" are healed, including those on your opponent's Hunters. BOTH players draw cards up to the maximum hand size of four (or discard down to four). Your turn now ends.

Winning and Losing

A player is eliminated when he has no more Hunters in play. At the end of your turn, you win if all other players have been eliminated, or if you have 40 or more Renown in your Victory Pile.

----------

PART V: ITEMS

Items are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.

An Item card is designed to attach to a Hunter. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar. Sometimes they will have Health or Skill bonuses, found at the top of the title bar.

At the start of the game, after revealing your Hunters, you may attach one Item to each of your Hunters. The total Renown of your Hunters and Items cannot exceed 40.

When a Hunter is KO'd, Items on that Hunter will also be KO'd. KO'd Items go to their opponent's Victory Pile.

----------

PART VI: PREY

Prey are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.

Prey cards are similar to Hunters. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar, and a Health value at the top of the title bar. They do not have a Skill value; Prey do not use Combat cards.

At the start of the game, you may put into play up to 60 Renown worth of Prey. (The Renown of Prey is counted separately from Hunters and Items.)

At the start of your turn, instead of choosing another player to be the defender, you may choose to attack Prey instead. If you do, choose one Prey to enter combat as the defender. Other players do not receive Actions, and their Hunters cannot be targeted or enter combat. You may attack Prey owned by any player.

In combat, Prey have the ability "Action: Attach a -2H Wound Token on the opposing Hunter with least health." Prey automatically use this ability when they receive an Action.

When a Prey is KO'd during your turn, put it into your Victory Pile. Prey also have a Victory Pile where you put Hunters that they KO, but they cannot win the game.

----------

Now I remember why I stopped posting these... they're too long!

Stormcrow

Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games

Googly!

I'm writing this post from Googe's Docs & Spreadsheets feature, which comes for free when you have a Google Account. This feature also allows you to upload most types of document files and spreadsheets, and get to work on them online as well. So far I have only been using the Docs part, and it is pretty convenient since I don't have to cart around files in cds or flash disks as long as there is an internet access. Especially since flash disks are not allowed in my workplace. T_T

Speaking of workplace, I'm now working in a nearby call center as tech support and been here for nearly two months (although the first month of that had been training). It turns out okay, although the night shift takes getting used to. And I miss Tesla, as I've used to spend the entire day with her. Now I only get to see her maybe a few hours a day. T_T But so far I'm enjoying the work, and I feel much much better now that I'm employed again.

Now what else is up? Chico and I bought some new PS2 cds, and right now I'm on Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. It still incorporates the same elements as the old VP: 2D dungeon and town exploration, the battle system, and the style of speech. The new features include a strategic addition to the battle system (you now have to move the team before attacking enemies), and the art is so much better. Of course the characters' costumes rock, and the voice actors are superb. As I haven't yet finished the first dungeon, I cannot yet comment about the plot, but so far it appears to be interesting.

Source: www.videogamesplus.ca

I'm also now back to playing Ragnarok, as they have opened a new server. Thor promises to have an advanced security feature that would keep out third party programs (aka BOTS) and thus ensure that all characters in game are being played by actual humans. As far as I can tell, this is so far true, but of course all things can be bypassed. Already, there seems to be auto-buy Bots in the towns, buying specified items from players at a specified price. I wouldn't be too surprised if there would be levelling bots in the field eventually. While there isn't, I'll be enjoying myself with a bot-free environment. ^_^

Raven

Labels: games, work

So I haven't had much to do in the past week. I really need to look for a job... In the meantime though, I'm enjoying my hiatus. Reading webcomics, among other things. Here are a few absurd ones that have caught my fancy:

(as usual, click the pic to get a larger, more readable image)

Dinosaur Comics
http://www.qwantz.com/
Dinosaur comics has copy and paste art; it is made up for by wonderful dialogue and lovable characters. It features a T-Rex rambling about various topics pertaining mostly to language and philosophy. Hilarity ensues.

White Ninja Comics
http://www.whiteninjacomics.com/
On the other hand, White Ninja appears to lack both good art and any redeeming intellectual features. Instead, it is by turns unpredictable, meaningless, slapstick and disgusting. More hilarity ensues. The Perry Bible Fellowship
http://pbfcomics.com/
This strip makes me want to laugh and weep at the same time. It deftly juxtaposes a sense of childlike innocence with bitter disappointment and the indifference of humanity. Well done.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
SMBC is the one comic on this list which is actually funny in the traditional sense. Like in PBF, normalcy and madness blend into a surreal stew.


Stormcrow

Labels: books, links, review

It's been an eventful week. Last wednesday, after many a sleepless night, I finally defended my MS thesis. Yay! Now I can start looking for a job again. ^_^ I'm not sure exactly how one goes about graduating in the middle of the schoolyear but I'd better push paperwork so I don't miss it.

This weekend marked the release of Magic's newest expansion, Time Spiral. I got a FatPack on sunday; that's a pair of (really nice) card boxes w/dividers, a guide-booklet, some land, some boosters, a d20 and a novel. The novel did not disappoint: I expected a rambling, barely coherent story with cardboard characters and a forgettable plot, and I got what I expected.

I was able to meet Ozzy (my constructed friend) to split two booster boxes. As usual, I got all the commons and uncommons. I haven't actually been able to play much limited recently, between my thesis and Raven's work, but Time Spiral looks like a fun set, even if just to collect.


Stormcrow

---------------

In closing, who knew that Quinton Hoover did furry porn? Not I.

Labels: books, cards, review