Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad (More info?)
I love mechanics.
Not the big greasy guys who fix cars, but the ones introduced with each
new set. A set is remembered for and defined by its new mechanics.
And if V:TES is going to see little in the way of new Govern-level, or
even Undead Strength-level library cards (to avoid power creep) and
little in the way of new effects for old disciplines (to avoid
diversification beyond identity), then mechanics are destined to become
much of what is the future of V:TES.
I would simply like to take a moment to reflect on some mechanics we've
seen in past sets, and then (as the title of this thread suggests),
explain why I think anarchs are going to grow to become far more
powerful.
Yes, I said it. Anarchs will RULE YOU ALL. Read on:
The Bloodline Mechanic
----------------------
Not traditionally thought of as a "mechanic", the Bloodline differs
from a normal clan in that it has only 5 or so vampires to build a
crypt from. This is not a "mechanic" in the technical sense--not that
I know what the "technical sense" is--but it functions like one, in
that the players get something new, and the designer can do new things
with/because of it.
Needless to say, this mechanic has met with some popularity.
How will it shape the game in future years? Well, I generally see one
Bloodlines deck at each table, even years after the set came out. I
think that says a lot. I think new bloodlines would be good, and that
no amount of them will ever overshadow Lasombra, Malkavian, Ventrue,
etc.
The Trifle Mechanic
-------------------
A different kind of master card, which is easier to play. Another
excellent example of a mechanic which adds a little to the game, but
not a lot--and without detracting from anything.
I don't think that, as the game goes on, the Trifle mechanic will
become "huge". We will see some, probably in a good share of decks.
But I doubt trifles will ever have a gigantic presence.
The Black Hand Mechanic
-----------------------
Really hard to gain, but really easy to start with, the Black Hand
trait is an interesting mechanic in that it seems to be printed on
completely random vampires, and that if you want to use it, you should
probably start with it. It functions like an extra discipline; it has
its own set of cards which require it.
I wouldn't call this groundbreaking any more than I would call Flight
groundbreaking. I don't have any Black Hand decks, so maybe I'm just
biased, but I think its effect on the game will be no more than the
effect of a new discipline. Which in the long run, can't be all that
much unless you allow for power creep.
The Event Mechanic
------------------
I don't think Gehenna events were perhaps the best example of what
Events are capable of. They were cool, they were OK. I use some.
Gehenna events were a good idea. But I think Events as a new card type
was a SUPERB idea. It's a subtle cardtype. NSA Trio, anyone? I think
as time goes on, more decks will add events and they will spice up the
game. Again, I believe this is much of what new mechanics are
for--providing that kind of variety.
The Red List Mechanic
---------------------
Simultaneously my favorite and least favorite of the mechanics, Red
List is a drawback which allows for more combat in games. The
potential for printing new Red List-oriented library cards is rather
limited--I suppose new trophies would be acceptable, or new Red
List-only cards. The real addition, the major gain for the game
itself, is that of Red List as a "flaw" during "character creation" to
add a new dimension to vampire design. I like that this trait is
simple and subtle, and that it encourages interaction between players.
That's the kind of Red List mechanic I really like. On the other hand,
I consider the cards which add "Red List" to a vampire to be the rather
inevitable outcome of adding a new trait, and I don't really like them
all that well.
Trophies are only really useful in a deck which expects that Red List
minions will appear and then get burned, so it is unlikely that a deck
which doesn't use this last category of cards will use Trophies,
either. I suppose that means they have their uses, but all the
decklists I've seen so far which have used trophies use them in
moderation.
The Anarch Mechanic
-------------------
First, you have to go anarch. There's a master card that'll do it,
there are two different virtually no-cost ways to go anarch, and
there's a rule for doing it, failing that. So once you go Anarch, what
do you get for your investment?
Anarchs have their own master cards and their own titles, etc., but
most notably they have the three-way cards which require you be an
anarch and have one of the three listed disciplines. Some, like Smash
and Grab, have three fairly different uses. Others more or less do the
same thing in three different ways. But no matter how you use Anarchs,
you have available to you--for the first time in V:TES history--the
ability to include discipline-based effects which all your vampires can
use without your vampires having those disciplines in common.
This is all good in theory, but what do you actually get for your
investment? To date: Maybe 3 good masters. Maybe 3 good minion cards.
Not much. There aren't that many really good Anarch cards yet. Also,
Anarchs don't have any "meat"--+2 bleed, +2 damage, +2 intercept, +2
stealth, S:CE, etc. If you're an anarch deck who wants to use JUST
anarch cards, you probably won't be that good at combat, you certainly
won't be an intercept or stealth deck, and your bleed is limited to +1.
So then how do I maintain that Anarchs will rule the world? Simple:
Because unlike existing disciplines, which must each be confined to
doing some subset of things, Anarch-only cards may do anything which
the inlaid discipline can do. Because unlike existing disciplines,
which have had much of their history written already, Anarchs do not
have many decent cards behind them yet. Or many cards for any given
discipline at all. Because if I'm right, and LSJ said that no mechanic
would be left behind in future sets, then Anarchs will continue to get
new cards. And Anarch-only cards unite many vampires across
disciplines. I think that this sort of flexibility and odd new sort of
cohesiveness is bound to increase simply by having more things
interconnecting the anarchs.
So basically, I suppose I'm saying that each discipline will have no
more new cards, virtually, after awhile. Including the "discipline"
Black Hand. But not including the discipline "Anarchs"--they just have
way more room to grow before becoming anything like broken, because of
the combination "discipline+anarch" in order to play it.
That's all.
-- Brian
Perhaps I should note that dual-discipline cards have this same sort of
potential? No new rant, though.
I love mechanics.
Not the big greasy guys who fix cars, but the ones introduced with each
new set. A set is remembered for and defined by its new mechanics.
And if V:TES is going to see little in the way of new Govern-level, or
even Undead Strength-level library cards (to avoid power creep) and
little in the way of new effects for old disciplines (to avoid
diversification beyond identity), then mechanics are destined to become
much of what is the future of V:TES.
I would simply like to take a moment to reflect on some mechanics we've
seen in past sets, and then (as the title of this thread suggests),
explain why I think anarchs are going to grow to become far more
powerful.
Yes, I said it. Anarchs will RULE YOU ALL. Read on:
The Bloodline Mechanic
----------------------
Not traditionally thought of as a "mechanic", the Bloodline differs
from a normal clan in that it has only 5 or so vampires to build a
crypt from. This is not a "mechanic" in the technical sense--not that
I know what the "technical sense" is--but it functions like one, in
that the players get something new, and the designer can do new things
with/because of it.
Needless to say, this mechanic has met with some popularity.
How will it shape the game in future years? Well, I generally see one
Bloodlines deck at each table, even years after the set came out. I
think that says a lot. I think new bloodlines would be good, and that
no amount of them will ever overshadow Lasombra, Malkavian, Ventrue,
etc.
The Trifle Mechanic
-------------------
A different kind of master card, which is easier to play. Another
excellent example of a mechanic which adds a little to the game, but
not a lot--and without detracting from anything.
I don't think that, as the game goes on, the Trifle mechanic will
become "huge". We will see some, probably in a good share of decks.
But I doubt trifles will ever have a gigantic presence.
The Black Hand Mechanic
-----------------------
Really hard to gain, but really easy to start with, the Black Hand
trait is an interesting mechanic in that it seems to be printed on
completely random vampires, and that if you want to use it, you should
probably start with it. It functions like an extra discipline; it has
its own set of cards which require it.
I wouldn't call this groundbreaking any more than I would call Flight
groundbreaking. I don't have any Black Hand decks, so maybe I'm just
biased, but I think its effect on the game will be no more than the
effect of a new discipline. Which in the long run, can't be all that
much unless you allow for power creep.
The Event Mechanic
------------------
I don't think Gehenna events were perhaps the best example of what
Events are capable of. They were cool, they were OK. I use some.
Gehenna events were a good idea. But I think Events as a new card type
was a SUPERB idea. It's a subtle cardtype. NSA Trio, anyone? I think
as time goes on, more decks will add events and they will spice up the
game. Again, I believe this is much of what new mechanics are
for--providing that kind of variety.
The Red List Mechanic
---------------------
Simultaneously my favorite and least favorite of the mechanics, Red
List is a drawback which allows for more combat in games. The
potential for printing new Red List-oriented library cards is rather
limited--I suppose new trophies would be acceptable, or new Red
List-only cards. The real addition, the major gain for the game
itself, is that of Red List as a "flaw" during "character creation" to
add a new dimension to vampire design. I like that this trait is
simple and subtle, and that it encourages interaction between players.
That's the kind of Red List mechanic I really like. On the other hand,
I consider the cards which add "Red List" to a vampire to be the rather
inevitable outcome of adding a new trait, and I don't really like them
all that well.
Trophies are only really useful in a deck which expects that Red List
minions will appear and then get burned, so it is unlikely that a deck
which doesn't use this last category of cards will use Trophies,
either. I suppose that means they have their uses, but all the
decklists I've seen so far which have used trophies use them in
moderation.
The Anarch Mechanic
-------------------
First, you have to go anarch. There's a master card that'll do it,
there are two different virtually no-cost ways to go anarch, and
there's a rule for doing it, failing that. So once you go Anarch, what
do you get for your investment?
Anarchs have their own master cards and their own titles, etc., but
most notably they have the three-way cards which require you be an
anarch and have one of the three listed disciplines. Some, like Smash
and Grab, have three fairly different uses. Others more or less do the
same thing in three different ways. But no matter how you use Anarchs,
you have available to you--for the first time in V:TES history--the
ability to include discipline-based effects which all your vampires can
use without your vampires having those disciplines in common.
This is all good in theory, but what do you actually get for your
investment? To date: Maybe 3 good masters. Maybe 3 good minion cards.
Not much. There aren't that many really good Anarch cards yet. Also,
Anarchs don't have any "meat"--+2 bleed, +2 damage, +2 intercept, +2
stealth, S:CE, etc. If you're an anarch deck who wants to use JUST
anarch cards, you probably won't be that good at combat, you certainly
won't be an intercept or stealth deck, and your bleed is limited to +1.
So then how do I maintain that Anarchs will rule the world? Simple:
Because unlike existing disciplines, which must each be confined to
doing some subset of things, Anarch-only cards may do anything which
the inlaid discipline can do. Because unlike existing disciplines,
which have had much of their history written already, Anarchs do not
have many decent cards behind them yet. Or many cards for any given
discipline at all. Because if I'm right, and LSJ said that no mechanic
would be left behind in future sets, then Anarchs will continue to get
new cards. And Anarch-only cards unite many vampires across
disciplines. I think that this sort of flexibility and odd new sort of
cohesiveness is bound to increase simply by having more things
interconnecting the anarchs.
So basically, I suppose I'm saying that each discipline will have no
more new cards, virtually, after awhile. Including the "discipline"
Black Hand. But not including the discipline "Anarchs"--they just have
way more room to grow before becoming anything like broken, because of
the combination "discipline+anarch" in order to play it.
That's all.
-- Brian
Perhaps I should note that dual-discipline cards have this same sort of
potential? No new rant, though.
(yes I'm over simplifying ccg expansion design...)
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