I rewrote the cards of the game by cutting down on the numbers. I aimed for 24 cards, down from about 60 or so. This allowed me to more easily try to get a good balance of cards based on power level, complexity, and tags.
For this playtest I have the following changes
- There are 24 cards. 6 basic, 8 medium, and 8 majors.
- Scheming is not automatic at the start of your turn
Lives Notes
Scheming requiring an action seems fine. One of the Power 3 cards lets you draw an extra Dark Deed, which seemed cool.
I seem to have a lot of Power 2 and Power 3 cards. It’s a bit overwhelming right now. Could just be luck of the draw.
Having the prophecy “verses” be a certain number of cards down in the deck seems to be working well, but the number will need to be fiddled with.
The +1 Hand Size from Demonology level 4 almost feels like enough of a boost by itself. I think the Discipline’s abilities would be better as simpler things. The ability to peek at the top cards of the deck is neat, but it slows the game down too much.
Gnashed Skull’s ability seems weak. I think it would be better as just “Advance a Dark Deed. Dem 3+: Instead, advance all of them.”
The peeking at cards ability on Demonology definitely needs to go. I just don’t want to do it on my turn, it feels so tedious. For simpler Discipline bonuses maybe we could have:
- Increased hand size
- Dark Deeds start with 1 card on them
- You may discard a card from hand
It should be possible to have both “left most” and “right most” prophecy verses active at the same time.
I’m liking the VP cards.
Should the cards from a completed Dark Deed be discarded later in the turn, to avoid messing up the top discarded card activating the prophecy verses.
Feedback
The Power levels match the card’s abilities better.
Joel liked the advance symbol.
Red Mage was not very fun as an ability. It’s also not as fun as the others because it takes an action.
Idea for power: Dark Deeds take one fewer card to complete.
Idea for power: sacrifice a power 2 cards to double-play a different 2 power card.
Plus 1 hand size could be a bonus for
More cards need to have higher popper requirements. Right now getting something to level 2 is almost as good as having it at level 3 or 4, since so few cards.
Idea for power: you may play a Power 1 card of matching Discipline for free each turn.
Idea for power: you may play two Power 1 cards as a single action.
Idea for power: draw a Dark Deed at the start of your turn, if you don’t already have 3.
Idea: give the Dark Deeds a Discipline icon. Then other cards can reference that. Your leveled up Disciplines could be pointer multiplier/adder for Dark Deeds that match Discipline.