(Vorthos Q.) Fanfiction writing: What are some in-setting cards or strategies that fit this concept?
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Posted on March 29, 2016, 9:53 p.m. by gavinfoxx
I'm writing a MTG fanfiction story, and I I need to massively improve my knowledge and lore about magic cards, as well as hypothetical deck-building capability, since the character will do something in-game that will resemble building a deck, through in-setting research.
Here's the idea: a character, let's call him Jim, finds himself as an immortal, yet very weak Planeswalker in ye olde generic high fantasy lande, and has to go about learning planeswalking and land magic, something never before seen in that setting.... and which vastly outstrips the local magic's power level. Also, this high fantasy place is kinda a bit of a hole and somewhat gritty, though it's no Warhammer Fantasy (thank god).
So Jim's goals are to:
-Quickly start being a land magic user, and start using the spells and building up his 'deck', to use in a way that fits his goals.
What are Jim's goals?
-Avoid mental mind-whammies that push him to be something he doesn't want to be (like, if he focused too much on black/red, he'd probably end up comically evil or something)
-Start improving the area around him as soon as possible, by building up his deck in a basic way, researching spells, and casting spells that 'make things better'
-Further his goals and values in general
-As he learns more and links to more exotic lands, end up with a 'deck' that is actually useful for when he inevitably ends up dueling some other planeswalker at some point so he doesn't die horribly to the only thing that can permanently kill him.
Now, his goals and values can be roughly described as 'modern western liberal humanist' -- ie, civilization is swell, science and infrastructure is a great thing, war isn't generally the best way to do things, quality of life is important, death and not existing is bad, diversity is good, art and culture is great, natural beauty and the wonders of nature should not be despoiled, individuals matter, no one deserves to die horribly, health and prosperity is important, individual betterment and various definitions of personal freedom are important, etc. etc..
A few mechanical things: let's assume that cards that are 'rare' or otherwise banned from various sorts of real-world types of games are available, but take more effort and time to get the weirder or crazier or more real-world rare/expensive they are, and had thus better be damn well worth it to focus on getting one of those, because by focusing on those, he avoids doing other, more immediately useful sorts of research. As an example, some dual-lands are strictly better than normal lands, and while he could potentially GET some, it takes lots of time and effort, and doing so had better be worth it for a good reason.
So, my question is -- what sets of cards, mix of cards, and spells that those cards imply, are best to achieve this? Without also dooming him in the sense of, 'after researching and getting a good set, when he gets in a fight with a combat-focused planeswalker, he's totally going to pernaently die. Ah well, there go his goals!' I'm thinking mostly blue/white, but as an utter (utter!) newbie, I don't know what would do this.
At the very least, what are some cards that represent 'nice spells to cast'? And what are the terms that describe this sort of thing using MTG jargon? What strategies should he use? What should his deck end up looking like, as he builds up to something resembling some sort of legal 60 card deck?
TL;DR: What would a rational person do if they found themselves an mtg planeswalker in a fantasy setting?
Epochalyptik says... #3
This thread was moved to a more appropriate forum(auto-generated comment)
March 29, 2016 11:36 p.m.
Land sorcerer in that he uses White/Red/Blue/Green/Black magic, rather than some other form of magic that is not inspired by MTG.
March 29, 2016 11:45 p.m.
Well, I've been doing some thinking.
Mostly, the limit is primarily 'No Black. Seriously, screw black'.
Other limits would be things like:
-Have a method of healing, of the player and of creatures
-Have a method of removing negative enchantments and curses and other bad stuff
-Have a method of resurrecting creatures that scales well, or at the very least making sure they have an afterlife in the form of some sort of benign spirit
-No Legendaries, Planeswalkers, Allies, Goblins, Undead, etc.
-Minimize cards that require odd game modes (like stuff with 'win the game', or Clues or similar)
-Sapient creatures should be Wizard, Spellshaper, Monk, Cleric, Druid, Advisor, Shaman, Druid, Artificer, etc.; not ONLY for war, they should be implied to have some non-war use! Also, if possible, these should be of varied species, and from varied cultures and situations
-Exceptions to the above are creatures that have a lot of noncombat capability, like Enchantment Creatures, or creatures with text and names implying they are law enforcement, artisans, diplomats, etc.
-Minimize annoying zealot types
-There should be few beasts or similar things, and those that are present should have some obvious non-combat use, like Bellows Lizard
-Other exceptions are non-sentient workers, like certain automatons that specifically have flavor that they are workers and laborers, ESPECIALLY if counters can be made to make these types in large numbers
-Spells that make structures that are useful are great. Things like Laboratories, Academies, Castles, Inns, Towns, Monasteries, Forts, Marketplaces, Forges, Cathedrals, Towers, Libraries, Cities, etc.
-Spells that can feed people, like Afiya Grove, Bountiful Harvest, Caribou Range, etc. are good
-Spells that give insight and improve the mind, like those 8,000,000 blue spells that are some variant of do something with your library and draw some cards, are good
-Lands that are actually nice, pleasant places where life can exist are good, and no painlands
-Enchantments that affect many, and are beneficial to many, are a good thing
(I only got to the C's, so I don't know what else would fit, but do you have a sort of idea now?)
March 31, 2016 9:55 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #6
If you want healing, look at cards like Healing Salve and stuff like that. Most creature resurrection is in black, but there is Breath of Life. Myr could be used as the worker creatures. Naturalize could remove enchantments. A couple of the 8,000,000 blue spells could be Brainstorm and Anticipate. This is what I can come up with off the top of my head
March 31, 2016 10:19 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #7
As described in your post, your character starts in a magic-stripped land, so he could be a primarily blue-based 'walker and the blue cards I mentioned could be how he starts learning everything else
March 31, 2016 10:21 p.m.
What would you do if you were Tim? Assume your own values rather than those described. What would your deck end up looking like?
March 31, 2016 11:36 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #9
Well, I'm primarily a Blue/Red/Black player, so if it were me, I'd be some rogue assassin/mastermind-type character. My 'deck' would be basically the average Grixis Delver but some staples removed for my own personal flare to represent my specific style of playing.
Also, I thought he was Jim, not Tim.
April 1, 2016 12:40 a.m.
That's what I get from typing on a phone. And you'd go black? Despite the flavor issues?
April 1, 2016 9:09 a.m.
The_Redpill says... #11
I myself would go black, because that's who I am. I'm not saying Jim should be black, I was just saying what I would be. From what you've said I think he's going to be a W/U/B with a splash of red once in a while.
April 1, 2016 7:34 p.m.
Yea, probably.
Scooches away from redpill and eyes him warily
What would the benefits be of going all blue compared to a mix, for this scenario? If you are limited to 60 cards, and lands count, is the breadth of the sorts of things Jim would do feasible? Which specific formats that are popular use more than 60 cards?
April 1, 2016 7:41 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #13
Before I answer, what are lands to Jim? What do they actually represent?
April 1, 2016 7:43 p.m.
Ah, it's the shuffle unassisted thing. Presumably, this wouldn't be an issue 'in universe'. Is there a major problem with excessively large decks?
April 1, 2016 7:45 p.m.
Ah, well, I was thinking in this format, in his tutorial universe, they are places he goes to where he bonds with mana wells. And if there is no maximum 'deck' size, they aren't actually cards per se...
Though they might end up being actual (nonphysical) cards, so he would only have access to them via luck of the draw. Not certain. Do you know how that works in the novelizations? That would help a lot. Still, past his tutorial, which probably only has Basic Lands, he would have to bring the connection forth to MAKE a land 'resemble' one of his distant home ones, I suppose, and THAT is the card draw. Or he could just find a local one and have a local source easily on tap..
Yes that works. If he spends the time to bond with local sources, it's not a 'card'. But if he's summoning a distant one to be local and reshape the map, it is.
April 1, 2016 7:49 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #16
Ok, so if lands count, let's assume Jim has 20 lands in his deck. That leaves him 40 different spells and creatures and enchantments to learn. If him casting and drawing things works as it does in real life, he has very limited room. Also assuming it is the same as real life, he would have to learn the same spell multiple times if he wanted to use it more than once, which doesn't really make sense. How would "discarding" work? When he uses a spell, does he forget it temporarily, or is it forever in his "hand?" I think he should be able to learn each spell once, and if he has lands, then they represent how much available power he has to use at that given time.
Say he has Lightning Bolt and Worldfire with him, but he has only three lands, or sources of power. He can cast Bolt a couple of times and it's still with him because he knows how to cast it, but because he hasn't been able to build enough power, he can't cast Worldfire yet. Or if he has actual decks, then you could have something like "The combat deck," "the helpful deck," and "the spells I can use for whatever deck." The combat deck would have all the spells and copies of spells he knows for combat (so he would have 4 Bolts, and that represents that he can only use it four times in a combat and not all at once because he has to draw them) and Worldfire would be his finishing move and only have one copy. The helpful deck would have all his life gaining and blue "learning" spells, and the whatever deck would have all the stuff he can use wherever, in combat and and out.
April 1, 2016 7:58 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #17
Oh, I was typing that and didn't see your other comment, so disregard it. So it just depends on where he is that determines whether or not he has to draw cards? When he's connected to a well or a land that he made, he can just use whatever whenever he wants? When he's out roaming around he has to take great pains to remember what he can do?
April 1, 2016 8:02 p.m.
What's wrong with having an oversized deck in general? Lack of focus, and taking forever to get what you want? With the having to duplicate spells multiple times?
Do you know how it goes in the lore/fiction?
April 1, 2016 8:03 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #19
The flavor of the deck is that it is your mind and represents what spells you know and what creatures you are able to summon. Depending on how you look at it, multiple copies could either represent how many times you can cast it or represent how well you know it. It's up to you to decide how you want to go about it in your story.
As for deck size, that still depends on the above. If it represents how many times he casts it, then a large deck size would be better because he would be able to cast everything a little more, but if it just represents how well he knows it, then the size doesn't really matter.
April 1, 2016 8:16 p.m.
Uh, which of the magic the gathering novels are the best to read to get an idea of the actual mechanics of spellcasting as it fits the lore?
April 2, 2016 12:15 a.m.
Hey, I finally started my mtg sorta self insert quest thing!
Do you want to read it and contribute, Redpill?
I'd love to have your input!
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/planecrawler-quest-mtg-semi-si-quest.28496/
April 27, 2016 12:57 a.m.
Thanks. Also, I can't seem to PM you here; I don't think you turned it on for me? Also, is there another way to get ahold of you somehow?
April 28, 2016 12:41 a.m.
The_Redpill says... #25
Oh yeah, I just enabled chat. I don't have another way you can contact me besides here. I'm trying to find time to look at it but I have school and stuff going on after that but I'll try tonight
April 28, 2016 6:05 p.m.
Okay, I chatted to you. Hope to hear from you! Or just reply at the thread?
May 1, 2016 1:14 a.m.
The_Redpill says... #27
Yeah sorry, the thread is really the best way to contact me right now. I haven't found time to read it yet but I think I can tomorrow, I'll tell you if I have or not
The_Redpill says... #2
I like this idea. I'll give you ideas later, as its late where I am. Though if he's primarily a "land sorcerer," he might want to be green.
March 29, 2016 11:31 p.m.