Help for set making! I need an idea for a plane!
Custom Cards forum
Posted on May 18, 2019, 4:09 p.m. by dbpunk
Hey guys,
So a hobby of mine is designing entire blocks (generally over a 4-5 week period) and I've just finished my last set design. I'm ready to start make another one, but... I'm kinda drawing a blank on the plane/setting I should use. I'm kinda hoping you guys could help me brainstorm some settings/planes for usage.
My newest set that I'm designing (for fun) is a commander set with ten tricolored decks. Each deck has a basic theme. However, I generally set up the keywords to fit the theme of the world/setting it's in as well as creature types.
Some things I don't want to use for this set (but if you guys suggest them, I'll do it for later sets when I have more time/less work):
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Mythology: At the moment, I'm currently also doing graduate school and TAing. As this is a hobby, I can't let myself go too far into researching mythology/other things to make sure I get the flavor right, and I don't want to do injustice to other cultures by portraying their folklore in an incorrect way.
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Any plane where there's an overfocus of a single theme or mechanical perspective: As much as I love sets based around enchantments or artifacts, I can't do that this set due to it being ten specifically made edh decks.
Settings I've designed sets/blocks for before, so you can see what I've thought up in the past:
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Ravnica 3000 years in the future: 4 colored factions with a focus on combining two guilds with opposing colors.
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A Persian empire set where the main battle was a war between two Middle Eastern armies over a magical city. (Artifact based, specifically with war machines)
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A block set in Western Europe trying to stop a great threat (Creature type based).
Any ideas will help! And thank you in advance!
That sounds interesting tbh. That way I could also incorporate different groups into my plane. My one worry would be how do I incorporate the answer to that question into commander set?
It also let's me use reprints from planes that the factions could've travelled to before. (For example, they could use the portals to pull something from theros or lorwyn or something).
May 18, 2019 4:40 p.m.
I’d say you make a cycle of cards that all are powerful in their own right, but perhaps make some janky infinite combo if you get them all together. You would have one of each such card per deck.
May 18, 2019 4:43 p.m.
Also cdkime I might actually use that as a later set due to a) how many factions there will be (at least 1 for each deck) and b) that's a really story driven thing that I might even write a story with, including a flashback (not the mechanic, but the cliched story telling device) of the destructions sole survivor saying how it all went down.
May 18, 2019 4:45 p.m.
Ooooohhhhh actually that works out really well when you add that part in. I'm honestly thinking of doing it like that because I love janky 10 card combos.
May 18, 2019 4:45 p.m.
TypicalTimmy the Persian Empire set was more like using all the regions that the Persian empire encountered, so it was closer to Tarkir than just focusing on the Arabic aspects of it.
Also, while that does sound cool, I feel like that wouldn't work for a commander based set but may work better for a longer term story.
May 18, 2019 8:59 p.m.
Funkydiscogod that one sounds particularly challenging, especially when it comes to an edh set, but I am incorporating the stone age aspect of it as follows.
Also note: I'm going with a mix of cdkime and Funkydiscogod's ideas: A million years ago, a serious disaster struck the plane of Minisi, destroying almost all civilization at the time. The whole world isn't destroyed, but civilization is effectively destroyed, with varying larger scale creatures taking hold. The closest to civilization is a few small groups of people who are long descendents of the survivors of the event. A million years later, the smoke clears enough for Planeswalkers to travel to the plane. The factions (each deck), in this case, are members of a coalition of planes formed after the events of GRN, when planar portals have become a necessity for world travel between planes (with Ravnica, Dominaria, Kaladesh and Zendikar being the primary hubs of travel to implement it so far at that point in the story). In the story, to investigate the destruction of this plane and attempt to figure out why they can finally Planeswalk there again, despite the changes that occurred. In doing so, they must escape vicious predators, the tribes who believe they are invaders and a dangerous landscape.
May 19, 2019 4:11 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #11
They've got carnivale covered but not the creepy clowns... that kinda makes or breaks it lol. Making a set means you also have the challenge of creating this feel for Bant colors still.
Admittedly I just thought I was funny, but it'd still be pretty cool.
May 19, 2019 11:40 a.m.
That's a good point. Of course there would have to be a Silence reprint... For the mimes.
May 19, 2019 11:57 a.m.
Just throwing out a few thoughts here:
-A block where several groups have found ways to travel between planes and are all fighting over another plane (in a way similar to alara, but each faction can be more specialized)
-a block where 2 factions are waring with each other, with one relying on magic to fight, and the other on technology.
-a block inspired by battles between Gods, monsters, and heroes
-a block based on a power struggle for the crown after a king dies, that is waged between a bunch of princes that each have some defining weakness
Just throwing some unpolished ideas out here that I thought of. I can think of a bit more for each if you want some more info on any of these
May 21, 2019 8:10 p.m.
Another idea I just came up with:
-A block built around the growth of various civilization, using artifacts and enchantments to symbolize advances in technology and magic among the civilization
Caerwyn says... #2
An idea I had on the card creation thread ages ago:
The plane itself was destroyed by a great magical war thousands of years ago. Recently rediscovered, several factions are using planar portals to send their troops to the plane to discover the secrets that led to the plane’s destruction.
May 18, 2019 4:28 p.m. Edited.