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.
Here is another tag I will retroactively add to some of the mercs:
ReplyDeleteCrimson Brigade: This is for personnel belonging to a mercenary company called Crimson Brigade.
I like the idea of having at least two mercenary companies represented among the cards. The Falcon Force cards mostly emphasize using your cards in tandem and having them support each other, while the Crimson Brigade cards will be some of the nastier ones that really hinder your opponents. I think there could be room for another company, but they should have a "theme" that's different from these two.
Not sure if this will make a lot of sense...but based on what you describe when I think of another mercenary group that's a different type, all I can picture are like these rogue scientists who are doing all these experiements that they're hoping to profit from, and they are largely responsible for/linked to the Newtypes and maybe even some of the Cyborg types. Not sure if that idea has any potential or not but figured I'd throw it out there. ^_^
DeleteYeah, that could be a neat idea. It would be interesting if some of their abilities had to do with somehow sacrificing the effectiveness of some of your other cards in order to improve their own powers - sort of to represent that they use questionable/unethical methods in their research.
DeleteHmmm definitely could be interesting!
DeleteI' m back! I had a similar idea brewing in my head regarding Crimsom. Albeit my idea was probably more extreme in that one of these mercs (thought about calling them Double-Edge) may prove more detrimental to a player though.
DeleteI figured they would, though effective at what they do, be ones that would be "picky" in that they may cause trouble to other chosen or prospective mercs.
Here would be an example:
Name: Ulysses Terra
Tags: Crimsom Brigade, Veteran
Combat Power: 2
Hiring: Set Price (11 credits to start)
Ability Name: Bitter Disgust: Any newtypes that aren't of Crimsom Brigade lose a combat point
Quote: "[spits] Theres too many of dem freaks nowadays"
That is an Idea, but please let me know what any of you think for this may very well be a redundant idea (and character).
Ciao!
Also I just noticed it, would it be alright to add the tag "anti-walker" to Rhoda Shaw?
DeleteGlad to have you back onirotciv00. ^_^ I like your idea for Ulysses. And thanks for pointing out the omission on Rhoda Shaw. I think I'll make the tag "anti-mech", though, so that it's a bit more generalized.
DeleteThank you SO much for posting this! I know I'm a bit slow in seeing it, but now that I've got it that should help a lot especially in making it so that they can interact with each other. Hopefully this will help me generate some more ideas!
ReplyDeleteNo problem. I'm glad this will be helpful to you. ^_^
DeleteHere is another tag I'm adding to some new mercenaries.
ReplyDeleteDaedalus League: This is for personnel belonging to a mercenary company called Daedalus League.
The Daedalus League is a secretive coalition of scientists and researchers who use cybernetics and bioengineering to create very advanced soldiers. Their methods are often ethically questionable, and as a game mechanics theme, they often allow you to sacrifice some cards in favor of strengthening others.