[Open Design: Mercenaries #8] Tags on Mercenary and Territory Cards

I’m breaking my usual Monday and Thursday posting schedule again to bring you three articles this week. I’m posting this article a day early, and another Building Character post will be going up Friday.

This is another quick update on our Open Design project. You can read all of our previous project articles here. An important factor to the intractability of cards in Mercenaries is something called Tags. Tags don’t do anything on their own, but they can be referred to by rules on other cards, and allow cards to be grouped into a variety of categories.

Humandisaster suggested that we should have a set list of Tags that can be used. This list should also give general guidelines as to what sort of concepts each individual Tag covers. I’m going to present here all of the Tags that we’ve used so far.

Mercenary Card Tags

Admin: This is for personnel that play more of a support role in an army, rather than participating in the actual combat.

Arial: This is for units that take to the skies during a skirmish.

Artillery: This is for units that attack from a considerable distance, rather than getting into the thick of combat.

Captain: This is for personnel that hold a command station within an army, or that have command experience.

Cyborg: This is for personnel that have been augmented with cybernetic implants.

Falcon Force: This is for personnel belonging to a mercenary company called Falcon Force.

Mech: This is for mechanized heavy combat vehicles, such as tanks, walkers, and aircraft.

Medic: This is for personnel that provide medical support in the field or in a hospital.

Newtype: This is for personnel who are pushing the envelope of what’s generally been considered the limits of human ability. Special cloning programs and genetic manipulation have produced a limited number of these experimental soldiers. Most of these characters should be young and exceptionally talented.

Recon: This is for units that fill a reconnaissance roll in an army, scouting ahead or providing intelligence to the rest of the army.

Rookie: This is for personnel that are young and inexperienced. They often make up for this with enthusiasm or unconventional tactics.

Stealth: This is for personnel that utilize stealth or misdirection to accomplish their goals, rather than fighting on the front lines.

Veteran: This is for personnel that are older and more experienced. They often have better combat abilities or better interactions with other cards.

Territory Card Tags

Base: This is for locations that can serve as a base of operations.

Landmark: This is for locations that feature a prominent landmark. The territory is valuable primarily for political or historical value.

Resource: This is for locations that can supply useful resources, such as a mine, a forest, or an agricultural area.

Wilderness: This is for locations that are mostly untamed wilderness.

These are the Tags that we’ve used so far. I would love to hear any suggestions you might have on Tags that could be added to these lists. Also, if you think some of these Tags could be modified or combined, I’d like to hear your thoughts on that, too.