Banemaker
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Feb. 29, 2024, 12:45 p.m. by TypicalTimmy
Had a dream about a sword that fell empires. In the dream, the sword was forged by an archangel with the intent to cast into Hell, thereby inciting unfathomable rage and hostility. The sword was enchanted such that everyone in the vicinity was fueled with passion, rage, ferocity, fear, anxiety, dedication, courage, etc all things required for unmitigated blood lust. But whomever wielded Banemaker was not subject to any of it, leaving them in a state of clarity with which to enact war.
The sword was made of metal, but it was almost a clear-black material, not unlike obsidian. It had etching in the middle of the blade's length that glowed as intensely as magma, and the sword was enveloped in deep orange flames and wrapped in a veil of writhing smoke. The cross guard, hilt and pommel were of tarnished and sooted silver, twisted in a beautiful means of craftsmanship, as elegant as the blade itself was terrifying.
Banemaker
Legendary Enchantment Artifact - Equipment
When Banemaker enters the battlefield, attach it to target creature. That creature has menace and gets +X/+X where X is the number of creatures on the battlefield.
When equipped creature dies or is removed from the battlefield, or whenever Banemaker becomes unattached, attach it to target creature at random.
All creatures have vigilance and haste and must attack at random each turn if able.
Equip - Pay 10 life
TypicalTimmy says... #3
A few nights ago I had this weird dream where I was in like some sort of a gala, with fancy folk from all walks of life. But not Human. It was like we were in some sort of "underground" exchange for illegal weaponry from all over creation. Like, I guess you could describe it as beings from all over existence trading weapons of mass destruction and violence, except they were essentially magical weapons. In the dream I was sort of just mingling about, but ended up catching a glimpse of this one guy. He was pale. Like the type of light grey ash that remains from wood that has been fully burned in a fire. He wrecked of smoke and ash. He was cloaked in a long black coat made of thick smoke that moved like heavy leather. When I saw him, I had this flash of the blade. Like all of my vision just snapped violently to the image of the sword, then I woke up.
About two nights later I was falling asleep, and you know how sometimes you can catch yourself on the verge between still being awake but drifting asleep? Right on that vertice where awake and asleep cross paths, that sword appeared again. Everything was as black as the starless midnight sky, and just that sword remained.
It was furious, with a torrent of fire that engulfed the blade, which glowed up the center like molten steel in a foundry. The blade, although black, was crystalline and somewhat translucent. I remember looking at the supreme craftsmenship of the silver, thinking about how much love and care went into something so wretched and horrible.
I don't recall any dreams beyond that, but when I woke up I just sort of had this intimate knowledge of a weapon heralded by some Archangel with the expressed reason to incite mass war and bloodshed within the ranks of Hell itself. Basically, give them the weapon and let them kill themselves over its possession.
Hence the name that came along with it, Banemaker
February 29, 2024 7:55 p.m. Edited.
There's a lot of good story potential right there. The sword, the smoke-and-ash guy who's somehow connected to the sword, the weapon trading stop, the chaotic, self-destructive war in Hell...
February 29, 2024 8:04 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #5
I've had dreams like this for, oh idk... 15 or so years now?
Sometimes it feels like I am legitimately somewhere real. Far too much detail and consistency.
Like, seeing someone in the dream and speaking with them, then months or even years later finding them again and actual history exists
It's like meeting someone in person you haven't seen for a while
February 29, 2024 8:26 p.m.
Getting off topic from the card, but you know how you're supposed to be able to tell that you're in a dream with special cues? Like you read a book, and the text is all weird, or clocks show the wrong time or change time too quickly, or you grab something quickly and it's too heavy or wrong texture or whatever? Those don't work for me a lot of the time.
I've read perfectly in dreams, checked clocks that show realistic times, had someone throw me a tennis ball that I caught, and it felt like a tennis ball, and all kinds of stuff. Basically, I go through the "is this a dream?" checklist, and everything checks out as real. I think "how did I get here and what am I doing" and there are answers, or the answers are irrelevant.
I haven't met anyone from my dreams, though, as far as I remember. My meaningful dreams are either stress-induced weirdness or helping me work through something I'm worrying about.
This should probably be its own thread at this point.
February 29, 2024 9:57 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #7
When I am experiencing high or extreme levels of stress, I either have extraordinarily graphic zombie apocalypse dreams, like The Walking Dead but real, or I have dreams about the violence between my father and I. Sometimes it even results in one of us murdering the other.
I've had zombie dreams where I wake up in physical pain or having an actual anxiety attack.
And I've woken up screaming viciously at my father. One time I was swinging for a punch at his face in the dream, and actually woke up mid-swing as I put a hole in the drywall next to my bed. I know that sounds like an internet exaggeration, but it's not. Well, mostly not. I hit the drywall hard enough to cave it in, but not like a fist sized hole. Still had to be patched, regardless.
And bare in mind, he passed of cancer in 2009 and my last nightmare about him was maybe 8 months ago. So yeah, there's some unresolved PTSD there for what he did to me. But hey, one day at a time right?
I'm not really sure what triggers these religious-like dreams, other than extreme exhaustion. It's almost like I fall asleep, then I fall asleep again and wake up somewhere entirely different
legendofa says... #2
I'm curious--where were you in this dream? I can imagine the art for this card very clearly--nice description!
That "at random" abilities would be a headache for the deck that pumps out fat piles of tokens. The big problem I have with large numbers of tokens and random effects is that it can take a long time to resolve, and there's no shortcut aside from "this is what will probably happen." If Jetmir, Nexus of Revels has thirty tokens and three opponents, that declare attackers step is going to take a while. (Same deal with cards like Grip of Chaos and Last One Standing. It won't happen all the time, or even often, but it will happen occasionally, and it's completely out of your control.)
I think the second ability can be just "Whenever Banemaker becomes unattached," since that will cover all possible "equipped creature leaves the battlefield" scenarios.
With all that said, this is a great design that captures the feel of chaotic bloodlust.
February 29, 2024 7:26 p.m.