Board 8 > Balance Testing for my TCG begins Saturday! Post here if interested in helping!

(+) Yeah! (+)

So after over 8 months of easily the most nonstop dedicated work I've ever put into something, my passion project has entered a testing phase! In total there are 200 unique cards I will be releasing, 20 for 7 different classes, and 60 neutrals. There's a lot of mechanics I'm very excited about, and will be explained in a video I'll put together tonight. Over the next few weeks, I'll be having people build their own decks and hopefully be able to test them in games with others if my system for running the games doesn't fall through, there's not extensive amounts of random effects, but due to my inability to go beyond making the cards at the moment, all of the random effects will be done by hand. Like I said, this is very early testing phase, it won't be perfect but my main goal is to focus on the cards themselves and see if anything is overpowered or underpowered.

I'd love all the help I can get, and any criticism will be heard and analyzed. If you'd like to participate, let me know in this topic and I'll get in touch with you to get a set of the cards once I have them completed. You'll be able to take all the time you want building a deck and understanding the mechanics, and I'll likely be using any free time I have to play test games with people. I'll make a post below this one with an explanation of the mechanics, however I understand it's likely a "see to understand" thing so I'll be sure to record and post that video tomorrow. I'm really excited to share this with you guys and hope you enjoy it!

It's also currently untitled, I'm the actual worst at coming up with names, but I'll decide on one tonight.
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tag
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tag
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Is this something you plan on going for a physical release with, or just digital?
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So here's a bit of an explanation on some of the mechanics in the game. I'll be making comparisons to other games I'm sure but hopefully it doesn't take away from its uniqueness.

So the game's objective is that of a lot of TCGs: play creatures, play spells, bring your opponents character to 0. Par for the course there. In this game, you can select 1 of 7 different "Warriors", all forming an army to prove their strength and earn the favor of the King. Each Warrior is equipped with a "Warrior's Spirit", a unique ability to that class that have an impact on the game, with varied costs and uses in a single game. But we'll talk more about that later, let's run through the classes:

Bishop - A powerful religious leader, who gathers his army of believers and stores up powerful holy energy to unleash on his opponents.

Loner - A violent hunter that pushes followers aside to destroy his enemies himself.

Blacksmith - A wise armor maker that makes sure his army is well prepared to take on opponents and builds Structures to keep them strong.

Entertainer - An egomaniac who craves the spotlight, and lets other do his dirty work to stop those in his way.

Druid - A nature wielder that roots their opponents while they build up powerful creatures.

Reaper - Death incarnate, who builds powerful armies of ghosts and demons to condemn his enemies

Jester - The King's goofball, who uses his book of tricks and persuasion to earn the respect of the kingdom.

Each class has their own unique Fighters, Buffs, and Structures. Now, what are Fighters, Buffs, and Structures?

Fighters: Fighters are the creatures you'll be playing to defeat your opponent. Each fighter has either 1 or 2 attacks, and a wide variety of abilities, which are as follows:

Health: Self-explanatory
Attacks: Each attack has a Damage, a number of Uses, and a potential effect when used. When an attack is out of Uses, as expected, you can't use it anymore.
Abilities: The abilities are usually explained on the card, but there are some keywords for certain things:
"Bravery": Hearthstone's Taunt, you must destroy the Fighter with Bravery before you can attack anything else.
"Cloaked": Stealth. A Cloaked Fighter cannot be targeted until it deals damage.
"Swift Strike": Windfury. Fighters with Swidt Strike can use an attack twice in one turn (both count as a Use).
"Early Bird": Charge. A Fighter with Early Bird can attack the turn it's played.
"Applause": An effect that occurs when the Fighter destroys another Fighter.
"Garrison": An effect that either triggers or scales based on the number of cards in your hand.
"En Garde": An effect that triggers when a Fighter is played.
"Final Breath": An effect that triggers when a Fighter is destroyed.
"Retaliate": An effect that triggers when the Fighter is damaged.
"Root": Frozen. A Rooted character cannot attack for a full turn.
Hopefully I didn't miss any.
Type: There are 4 types: Basic, Advanced, Ultimate, and Legendary. Usually the higher the type, the better the card, and also more expensive to play. There is a limit to how many of a card you can put in a deck based on type. Basic = 4, Advanced = 3, Ultimate = 2, Legendary = 1
Cost: The number of Command Tokens needed to play the Fighter, a mechanic which will be explained later.
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ill sign up
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The Utility Man posted...

Is this something you plan on going for a physical release with, or just digital?

I want it to be physical down the road but it will be digital only for a while.

Alright, we left off with Fighters, now on to Buffs:

Each Buff has its own effect, type, and cost. As opposed to Fighters, Buffs only come in Basic and Advanced, and you may have 4 of each Basic and 2 of each Advanced Buff. And Buffs do more than just benefit your Fighters as the name implies, Buffs can do a lot more!

Lastly, Structures:

Structures are cards you put into play and take up space on your board like a Fighter, but cannot attack and instead provide an aura effect for you or your opponent's fighters. Each Structure has an effect, cost, and space on the board.

I know I'm kind of throwing this in the middle but your board is allowed up to 5 Fighters/Structures and your hand is allowed up to 7 cards.

Now onto the big change, Command Tokens. They're somewhat similar to Islands of Magic: The Gathering. The number of Command Tokens you have is the number you can play each turn. Each Command Token is a card you decide to put in your deck, up to 15 in a deck. When you draw the Token, you can play 1 per turn, and when a Token is played it's kept permanently. You can play as many cards as you want, except for Fighters. You may only play 1 Fighter per turn. I hope this promotes a more value-oriented playstyle, limiting aggression without destroying it.

Ah and speaking of limiting aggression, I forgot to mention one important part to Fighters: Kamikaze. When a Fighter is out of moves to use, you may instead trigger a "Kamikaze" effect. When triggered, the Fighter is destroyed, and it's remaining health is halved and dealt as damage to all enemy fighters. This makes it so that even when a Fighter cannot fight, it can still help, and also furthers to limit aggressive play styles from running rampant.

So the game plays out as follows, on your turn you draw a card, decide what Fighter/Buffs/Structures to play, make any attacks they have available, and end their turn. I'll have a detailed example game in my video tomorrow to cover anything I likely missed.

Let me know what you guys think, or let me know of any massive gaps I forgot to fill during this rushed explanation!
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so if I have 1 command token, I can play a 1 cost card? or can I play as many 1 cost cards as I want (except fighters, of which I can only play one)?

Or is is basically the same as mana
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MZero11 posted...

so if I have 1 command token, I can play a 1 cost card? or can I play as many 1 cost cards as I want (except fighters, of which I can only play one)?

Or is is basically the same as mana

It works like mana, only instead of getting 1 per turn you actually need to have them in your hand and play them to get them.

If you have 1 Command Token, you can play a 1 cost card, yes. 1 Token = 1 Playable Token per turn.
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Stevie3V posted...

It works like mana, only instead of getting 1 per turn you actually need to have them in your hand and play them to get them

But that's exactly how mana works...

You have to play a land card to actually use it for mana. I'm assuming that once you use a command token you don't lose it, do you?
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The Utility Man posted...

Stevie3V posted...

It works like mana, only instead of getting 1 per turn you actually need to have them in your hand and play them to get them

But that's exactly how mana works...

You have to play a land card to actually use it for mana. I'm assuming that once you use a command token you don't lose it, do you?

Oh yeah sorry my head went to Hearthstone mana, yes it's very similar to MTG land. You play the Command Token, it becomes permanently available to use each turn.
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So basically like lands but there's no blue/red/green/etc. just universal mana
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I can help out, I've got multiple people to playtest with.
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MZero11 posted...

So basically like lands but there's no blue/red/green/etc. just universal mana

Yes, that's it.

So all 200 cards are digitalized, the issue I'm running into now is what's the best way to set up games. I'm at a mix of not knowing much about the idea of online servers to use and also really strange hours of sleep so I'm not really too keen on the problem solving. Basically, anyone know an effective way I can take these cards and be able to have 2 people play a game online?

I'll put it to the side for now and work on the explanation video. I built 2 decks last night and I'm pretty excited about them!
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Maybe a Vassal Module?
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Tag
All 7 classes have access to the 60 neutral cards, and exclusive access to 20 more cards?
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WhoopsyDaisy posted...

Tag
All 7 classes have access to the 60 neutral cards, and exclusive access to 20 more cards?

Yup!
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Stevie3V posted...

WhoopsyDaisy posted...

Tag
All 7 classes have access to the 60 neutral cards, and exclusive access to 20 more cards?

Yup!

So that in a sense is like Hearthstone then.
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The Utility Man posted...

Stevie3V posted...

WhoopsyDaisy posted...

Tag
All 7 classes have access to the 60 neutral cards, and exclusive access to 20 more cards?

Yup!

So that in a sense is like Hearthstone then.

Yes, in a similar vein to Hearthstone, there are multiple classes, each with a unique power and set of cards, with a basic set of Neutral cards for all classes.

I'm sorry, I know my explaining through text isn't perfect, I'm working hard to get this video out and the game set up.
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So it took all day, but I finally got a software to host the game set up!

I'm testing the mechanics with a friend to see if they work now, I'll record the video and send out PMs to people with the links they need later today!

It's through LackeyCCG if anyone would want to pre-download it.
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The official inaugural game of Glorious Warriors has taken place, and my "Big Man Druid" deck was defeated by my friend's "Scrap Metal Blacksmith". During the game, a decision was made to introduce trade damage, because as expected, the lack of it made boards snowball out of control. Still was a very interesting game though! We're running another one, his Blacksmith against my "Big Damage Loner" deck, the first game with trade damage "half of your target's highest attack".

Streaming it as well! Followed by some theorycrafting, so let this be the stand-in until I finish the tutorial video.

twitch.tv/theeveryman
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I'm now 0-2, my aggro Loner deck managed to draw most of it's 2 cost cards consecutively and I ran out of steam. Seemed like a pretty alright deck considering my attempts to limit aggro! It truly never dies.
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Tag, super interested
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I sent out PMs to those that said they were interested, let me know if you have any issues! I'll be streaming for at least another 2 hours or so, so I can answer any questions you may have or even play a few games if you're able. Thanks again guys! I'm really excited to see what you think.
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lol I wanna try that Jester combo deck, that looks fun af
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It makes me so happy that I was able to get this game up and running. I've worked on so many projects, and it seems like all of them run out of steam before I finish. But I wasn't giving up on this. It looks ugly as sin, there's typos, probably some disgusting combos that need removed (like the Turn 1 OTK I realized existed), but it's out there. 200 cards, all finished and ready to be received.

I hope you guys have as much fun theorycrafting and exploring the different combinations as I will. I hope we all get testing games in, figure out what's good, what's not, and really polish this thing. It means the absolute world to me to have your help through it all.

Happy deck building!
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Way too early to tell class rankings:

7. Reaper - On the surface, it looks like I didn't do as good of a job as I had hoped on creating a board flood class in a game that favors board clearing. However, I do believe a Reaper deck has hope. The "Unholy Armies" Reaper, a deck surrounded around the "Unholy Armies" card followed by a series of Early Bird Demons could be strong enough to push this class up a bit. It was brought to my attention that the issue as of now is the lack of single target removal, which will be monitored to see if it's as necessary as it may seem.

6. Blacksmith - That's right, the only class that's won a game in a PvP match is 6th. In major part because the first match would have went very different if it were not testing the "no trade damage" mechanic, and the second involved the other player drawing 5 of 7 2+ cost cards in an aggro deck, and still almost won. Blacksmith doesn't seem bad per se, but it seems to be lacking that overwhelming combo or tempo midrange strength the other classes show.

5. Jester - Everyone's favorite class hasn't looked perfect out of the gate, but with everyone favoring this class for theorycrafting, don't be surprised to see this class refined before any of the others. The current deck type of choice is the "Let's Make A Deal" deck, where Door Number 1 holds a card that Buffs your opponent's Fighters, Door Number 2 loses you a command token, and all the while Wayne "Jester" Brady gets your best Fighter while leaving you with an Omen that'll finish you off in 2 turns.

4. Bishop - I think part of Bishop's appeared strength was from drawing both powerful board clear cards against Reaper, but I think this class has a lot of potential nonetheless. The "OTK" option has been explored, and seems to have a lot of perks of being an all around deck with a strong finisher, while the "Bravery" deck hasn't even been explored yet and could provide even greater results.

3. Entertainer - The king of slow value oriented decks, Entertainer showed that this game can in fact support a class that's focus is slowing down the game, drawing your deck, and slamming huge threats to finish the game. I think the deck has weaknesses that may be explored down the line, but it's a great starter deck for now.

2. Loner - I may be overvaluing this class through bias, but I think the aggro class found a way to be strong. I think cards like "Explosives Smuggler" and neutral face damage like "Kitchen Sink" and "Life or Death" create a catch 22 of sorts, where the board threatens damage, his hand threatens damage, and the Warrior himself threatens damage. On top of that, there's a control build of this deck with Ictus Solum that has yet to be touched, and it could show even greater success.

1. Druid - This one seems clear to me right now. Druid's ability to gain a hoard of Command Tokens with Helpful Fairy and Grand Fairy, then use Quick Change to return a Fairy to hand and replace it with something like Arbor seems incredibly powerful. The deck has large Fighters, cheap draw, strong stall in the Warrior Spirit and other Root cards, and overall enough to seem to me, like the deck to beat. And there's hasn't even been a "Pack" version of Druid built yet, although I feel that deck may not fair as well.
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New deck to watch: Bravery Bishop. Feels very dominant.

Also in the explanation game to show my family what I've been working on, Blacksmith won the 3rd straight PvP match, keeping it as the only deck to ever win.
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I made a deck last night and I'll play you after the Celtics game
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MZero11 posted...

I made a deck last night and I'll play you after the Celtics game

Awesome! I'm on my way home from family's anyway, so I'll be good to go in an hour or so.

Also working on the first update changelog on the way back. So far the changes are:

-Crazed Magician's text is changed from "Cast a random Buff from your hand (targets chosen at random)" to "Cast a random Basic Buff from your hand (targets chosen at random)"

-The player going second starts the game with "Adrenaline", which gives them the card "Adrenaline: Choose One: Gain +1 Command Token or Play 2 Fighters this turn".

-Bomb's text is changed from "Last Breath" to "Final Breath", as intended, as well as from "Deal 10 Damage to 2 random enemy characters" to "Randomly deal 10 Damage to an enemy character twice"

-New buttons for the interface!

And more to come.
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Alright I am home and around for the night, for those that have the game, go to the server tab and connect if you'd like to play! I'll probably just leave it up while I play Rock Band, so if I don't get back to you right away give it like the length of the average song or so.
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First Board 8 match ends with MZero's Jester beating my Bishop. It was a well fought match, but I played into "Let's Make A Deal" super hard despite being the one that said that's the best Jester archetype lol.

Learned a lot of information about rules and card changes from the game! Was fun!
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Glorious Warriors Update 0.0.1 is LIVE! Go to the link from the Dropbox in the PM I sent you guys for the new update. All you have to do is redownload the files and replace the ones you already have.

Changes are as follows:

-"Crazed Magician's text is changed from "Cast a random Buff from your hand (targets chosen at random) to "Cast a random Basic Buff from your hand (targets chosen at random)"

-"The player going second starts the game with "Adrenaline", which gives them the card "Adrenaline: Choose One: Gain +1 Command Token or Play 2 Fighters this turn" (available in the Tokens tab)"

-"The Loner cards' texts are changed from "Last Breath" to "Final Breath", as intended; Bomb's text is changed from "Deal 10 Damage to 2 random enemy characters" to "Randomly deal 10 Damage to an enemy character twice"

-"Ictus Solum (the Warrior) is now a Token rather than a Warrior card"

-"Command Token is also available as a Token for cards like Honorary Commander"

-New buttons for the interface!
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Bump
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So I set up a website for people to show interest in the Alpha for me to send then the download info!

https://stevie3v.wixsite.com/gloriouswarriors

Also I had to edit one of the Dropbox folders and it may have changed the download link, so if you notice the Dropbox link not updating let me know and I'll send you a new one.
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Bump. Constructed a Midrange Loner deck today. It may be short on draw, but I think it has potential. Masochist is showing to be a very strong card, as is Devoted Follower. Plus Ictus himself may need some nerfing, that Warrior Spirit is a lot better than I originally gave it credit for ;)
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Signing up for this, sounds really cool
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Mega tag

MtG player and judge reporting for duty
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With trade damage, is it rounded up or down?
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dropbox links aren't working for me, can you send updated ones? Thanks!
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JeffreyRaze posted...

With trade damage, is it rounded up or down?

Rounded up.

MZero11 posted...

dropbox links aren't working for me, can you send updated ones? Thanks!

Yeah I figured. Sending the new one now!
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Cool. I don't have time to play online now, but messing around by myself it feels like Bishop's hero power is insanely good. I'll make a few more decks and play solitaire for a bit, then I'll join in the online games
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JeffreyRaze posted...

Cool. I don't have time to play online now, but messing around by myself it feels like Bishop's hero power is insanely good. I'll make a few more decks and play solitaire for a bit, then I'll join in the online games

The Bishop's is more consistently useful than most of them, yes. I think Druid's is extremely powerful, enough to where I plan on taking it from 5 uses to 2, and Loner's has great synergies. Entertainer and Reaper have 2 of the more useless ones generally speaking.
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Playing Melee with some friends for a while, then I'm on for testing all night. Say about an hour or so from now.

I'm also open for questions all day if anybody has card disputes. Doing some rewording on a lot of cards for the next update to match the Lackey interface.
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I dunno if you have any deathtouch creatures but Reaper could probably benefit from cheap fighters that automatically destroy any fighters they deal combat damage to.
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WhoopsyDaisy posted...

I dunno if you have any deathtouch creatures but Reaper could probably benefit from cheap fighters that automatically destroy any fighters they deal combat damage to.

It was a mechanic I considered but never pulled the trigger on. Looking at it, there are some Reaper cards that are practically unplayable (Zombie Seed), so they'd be good to give that to. Because Reaper definitely could use something.
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First round of card changes have been planned, 2 classes I have played extensively are getting some card nerfs. Will announce them when I start releasing the next update before the end of the week.

This is not to say other cards won't be changed down the line, but I have not been able to get many testing games with people, so a lot of what I've seen as strong comes from what I've been able to play solitaire.
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Hoping to get a better system for installing the game together sometime soon and releasing the next update on that.
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So what decks have you guys been playing thus far if any? Would you mind sharing deck lists as well?

I'll share my Midrange Loner, probably my favorite deck thus far:

x1 Aemul Solum
x10 Command Token
x3 Dedicated Follower
x3 Eager Magician
x2 Frightened Messenger
x2 Honorary Commander
x1 ictus Solum
x3 Ictus' Chosen
x2 Make Way
x3 Masochist
x2 Noble Martyr
x2 Rapid Growth
x1 Samson, Disgraced King
x2 Soul Crush
x1 Tantrum
x2 Treasure Hunt

Great curve with cards like Masochist, Ictus' Chosen, and Noble Martyr, decent amount of draw and removal, and good late game options with Ictus, Aemul, and Samson. Overall, a pretty solid deck, I've enjoyed it.
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If anyone still has interest, I'm around tonight to play. Gonna be putting the last touches on the next update.
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