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Aug 11, 03:13 PM: ICTC - Index Card Trading Card game
The basic premise here is create a card game around the idea of every player making his own cards. What you find here are instruction to make your cards, how to form a guild and get your cards approved, and how to battle and win cards from other players.
You are a combatant in the great struggle. You must forge yourself a deck so that you can challenge other combatants and learn their secrets.
How to make a card
All ICTC cards are made from white 3”x5” index cards with at least one side completely bank. The other side can have anything you want (lines, grid, color, etc.). The reason for this is that one side of your cards must match the cards of everyone else who ever plays the game so that if you trade or win cards from another player that card wouldn’t be unfairly identifiable in your deck. The plain blank side of your card is considered the back of the card.
The face of the card is divided into 3 zones the top, middle, bottom. All cards must contain the following information in they designated zone. The top must have the card type and cost. The middle must have a description of what the card does. And the bottom will have the approvals. Certain types of cards will require other details to be included on the card.
The face of the card can have other things on it as well like the name of the card and artwork as long as it does not obscure another player’s ability to read the card. Cards can be made by hand or printed with a computer or any way you want to do it.
Card Type
There are 4 types of cards and you will need to make yourself several of each kind. The card types are Action, Flash, Power, and Soldier. The card type must appear in the upper right corner of your card.
Action cards can be almost anything and they are how most things get done in the game. They can affect the other players in the game or the cards they have in play. You can use them on yourself and your other cards and some of them will just stand on their own. Action cards can only be played during the action phase of your own turn.
Flash Cards can be played at anytime on anyone’s turn. They generally either help or hinder what is going on in the game at the moment. The only limitation on flash cards is that they cannot have a lasting effect; all flash cards played must be discarded by the end of the current players turn.
Power Cards are the currency of the game. Almost every card will have a cost that you have to pay to put that card into play. The exception to this rule are the power cards themselves. You can put one power card into play each turn during your power up phase (see below) and you can only add one power card to play per turn unless you have a cards that says different. As a general rule a power card that generates one unit of power per turn will have zero card cost.
Soldier Cards are the real heart of the game. You need soldiers to attack your opponent and defend you from his soldiers. Soldier cards are deployed during your action phase; you can deploy as many soldiers as to have power enough to play but soldiers are not able to attack in the same turn they are deployed unless a card says otherwise. All soldier cards must have a combat rating (see below). The combat rating must be the first thing in the card description. As a general rule the card cost of a soldier card will be equal to or greater than the combat rating.
Card Cost
Almost every card will have a cost that you have to pay to put that card into play. You use the power from your power cards and other sources to pay the cost. Some cards will just require power in general, some cards will require a specific type of power but most will require a combination. Power comes in 6 varieties Red, Green, Black, White, Blue, and Purple. The colors are just to separate the power and any color can represent anything you like but here are some general guidelines for choosing colors. Red is the color of fire, heat, and rage. Green is the color of nature and the earth but also money and greed. Black is death, decay, and pollution. White represents peace, healing, and the sun. Blue is water, wind, and winter. Purple is the color of royalty, chaos, and the machine.
(alt colors #1) Red, Green, Blue, and Purple, Yellow and Orange.
(alt colors #2) Red, Green, Black, White, Blue, and Colorless.
The card cost should appear in the upper left corner of your card. Cards that just cost general power will simply have a number. Cards that cost power of a certain type will have a number and a letter, the letter indicates the color of the power. Each color is represented by the first letter of its name except for black, which is marked with the letter K, since both black and blue begin with the same letter and the letter K does not appear in any of the other names.
For example you have a soldier card showing 2K+4 in the upper right corner to put this card into play you will need to spend two black power and then four more power of any king that is available.
It’s possible to create a card with a variable cost marked with an X. If you want the variable to come from general power use X or +X, if the variable must be of a specific type of power then the X with be followed by the color.
For example you create an action card to set another card or player on fire and do damage. The more power you put into the card the more damage it does but it requires 2 red power to get started. The card cost would be 2R+X. Another example would be a flash card that poisons a soldier and the damage he takes is equal to the amount of black power you pay into the card. The card cost would be XK.
When assigning a cost to your card please keep in mind that you want a fair and balanced game, the more power full the card the greater the cost. Ultimately you can put any cost you want on the card but if your cards are all high power low cost it’s not likely anyone will want to play with you. As a general rule the cost of a card should be one to activate the card, plus one for each point of damage the card can do, plus one for each power and ability the card has, minus one for each restriction. Soldier cards automatically have the restriction of not being able to do anything the same turn that they are deployed. Flash cards do not require an activation point.
As a general rule if a card costs more than 2 power to deploy, at least 1/3 of the required power should be of a specific color.
Card Description
The card description explains exactly what the card does. The description can be anything but must be complete. As a general rule if the description does fit on the card then it’s too much for one card to do. Powers and abilities that are shared by more than one card can be denoted with a keyword. Once a keyword is established and defined then the full description doesn’t need to be on every card just the keyword.
For example you crate a soldier card that has the power to fly and describe this power that when he attacks another soldier can only block him if that card can fly too. After making several cards with this same description you can define a keyword “Flight” so that any card with the word flight on it can only be blocked by other cards with the key word flight.
The card description should also have the cards color. The color of the card should match the color of the power in the card cost. It is possible to have multi-colored cards of colorless cards.
The description will also have any restrictions you place on the card. You might want to limit when or how the card is play and even add conditions that need to be met for the card to remain in play. Restrictions will low the cost of the card and make your deck move manageable. Restrictions will also make it easier for get other players to approve your cards.
Card Approval
This is an optional rule but a strongly recommended one. When you create a new card you will want to show it to a couple of other players and get them to “sign off” or approve the card. This is to again ensure that you have a fair and balanced deck. Ultimately you will have at least 2 decks of cards a master deck and then your play deck. The master deck contains one copy of each card you have ever created and each of those original cards will have the approvals on them. Your play deck is the cards you actually use in the game.
You may want to form a guild with other players to make the card approval process easier. A guild can be any number of players organized in any fashion. Small groups of people may want to just meet discuss the new card then vote. Larger group may want to have officers and form an approval committee.
When 2 players meet for the first time it is customary for them to present their master decks for review. Your opponent may at this time request that some cards be excluded from play if he feels they are unbalanced. This is considered very rude if the card has been previously approved by know players but is not uncommon if the two player have no pervious history. As a general rule at least 2 individuals or one guild should approve each card.
Card protection
You have every right to duplicate the cards that other people make by making the same or similar cards yourself but each player has the right to reserve of protect up to three cards. Keep a list of your protected cards with your master deck. The cards you protect are for you alone and other players may not create similar cards. You can change your protected cards at anytime but keep in mind once a card is unprotected it can never be protected again. You make the decision to protect a card at the time it’s created or at least before you show it to anyone else.
Game play
To begin a game shuffle you cards then offer your deck to your opponent to cut. After the decks are cut each player flips the top card from his deck face up. These cards become the kitty; the player that wins the hand wins the cards in the kitty. Compare the cost of the cards in the kitty the player whose cards has the highest total cost goes first. In the event of a tie flip the next card in your deck and add it to the kitty. Repeat this process until one player has a higher total. Each player deals himself 7 cards and then the game begins.
The game play is pretty simple. Each turn is divided into 4 parts Power-Up, Action, Combat, and Regroup. You begin your turn with your Power-Up Phase in this phase you will draw a card and reset all the cards you have in play (see below). Also in this phase you may put 1 power card into play as a free action assuming you can pay the cost of the card (most power cards have a zero cost) but you may one put 1 power card into play each turn. Next you move to the Action Phase, in this phase you may play as many action cards as you have power to use. Once you are done playing any action cards for this turn you may declare Combat if you want but you don’t have to. After combat if any is complete you regroup and finish your turn. In your Regroup Phase you remove any temporary effects or cards that expire at the end of the turn from play and discard if you have more than 10 cards in your hand.
Most cards will need to be activated to use their powers; soldier cards become activated when they attack. When you active a card turn it sideways so you can tell the used cards from the cards that are still available. At the beginning of each turn, in your re-arm phase, you turn your cards upright or reset them.
Combat is divided into 3 sub-phases Charge, Defend, and Damage. In the Charge Phase the player whose turn it is declares which of his cards will be attacking and who they are attacking. You may choose to attack any soldier in play or the opposing player. Although each soldier attacks simultaneously each is considered and individual attack. In the Defend Phase your opponent assigns which of his soldiers will block your attackers. An attacker can be blocked by any number of defenders and a soldier that is being directly attacked can choose to block a card other than his own attacker. Once all the attackers and defender are in place you enter the Damage Phase and determine who lives and who dies. A cards combat rating is both he damage it cause and how much damage it can take. Any soldier that takes damage equal to or greater than his own combat rating dies any is placed in his controller’s graveyard. Any time 2 cards battle they do damage to each other equal to their combat rating. If more than 2 cards are involved in an individual exchange it sis the player that is dealing the damage that decided how that damage is distributed.
For example you opponent attacks you with a soldier card with a CR3. You decided to have 2 of your soldier cards, both with a CR1, block the attacker. You opponent decides how his damage is divided up. He decides to do 1 point to the first defender and the other 2 point to the second, killing them both.
Damage does not roll over. In the example above the second defender took 2 points of damage even though he only had a CR1. The extra point is lost.
Winning
You win the hand (and the kitty) by “killing” you opponent. Each player begins the game with 25 health or hit points. You are “dead” when you run out of these points.
Development Notes
- ICTC is pronounced “ick tick”.
- I’m on the fence as far as the colors for the power types but this I a story driven feature and will not effect the mechanics
- Still need to add a section on suggested cards enough to make a 30 card deck.
- Might want to provide a list of keywords and definitions.
- Might call the player “Card-smiths”.
