Destiny Machinist

DESTINY MACHINIST 

A competitive Deckbuilding Game

Version (0.1)

For those in the know, this is the third iteration of my attempts to make a game about the Sauh Derp Mythos. It has the same name as the first two iterations too. Third time's the charm!

DM Deckbuilder Cardlist

DM Deckbuilder Rules

Theme
The players are Destiny Machinists. They are people who, by some mystic means, can manipulate the winds of fate.

However, there is a saying : "Too many cooks will spoil the broth."

There can only be one Destiny Machinist writing this story!

Gameplay Brief
Each Player starts the game with 30 WILL POWER (WP). The point of the game is to remove all opposition by reducing their enemies' WP to zero.

The players start with a deck of basic cards, which they can use to either : Build up your arsenal and survive!
 * Acquire more cards through the course of the game, or
 * Reduce their enemies' Will Points.

Note that this is the 'basic mode' of the game; cooperative games and more complex modes of play will follow after development is completed.

Card Parts
This section details the parts of each card.

Glossary of Terms

 * Will Power (WP) - The Destiny Machinist's ability to continue fighting. The player's health.
 * Damage - The means by which Will Points are lost. One point of damage dealt to a DM translates to one lost WP.
 * Damage Potential (DP) - An abstracted numeric value that represents a card's ability to deal damage. Each point of damage potential is damage that can be dealt.


 * Attack - A player may make a declaration at any time during its turn and apply any damage generated by his/her played cards' damage potentials to one or several targets. He may target other Players or any active persistant cards with thresholds. If a target player has at least one active persistent card with a barrier, the attacker must first disable all of that player's active persistent cards with barriers before he can apply any damage to their owner.


 * Player Deck/(Potencies) - The stack of cards a player draws from. What you build up by acquiring cads. A player's 'arsenal'.
 * Field - A space where a player's active cards are placed. This is where played cards go. Each player has its own field,
 * Discard - Where cards usually go when they have been played, disabled, or acquired. Discard piles are shuffled back into the player deck when a player runs out of cards and is forced to draw.


 * Hand/Ready Cards - Cards in hand.
 * Active Cards - Cards on the field. Cards with effects being resolved.


 * Play - the act of putting a card into your field from your Ready Cards (Hand). If a card is put on the field any other way, its not 'played'.


 * Disable - A process in which a card, usually a persistent card, is discarded.
 * Banish - A process in which a card is removed from the game. Banished cards have their own pile and cannot be interacted with for the rest of the game. In the case of Hindrances, they go back to the Hindrance pile.
 * Hindrance - These are 'dead' cards which are added to an opponent's deck with the purpose of stymieing their actions. They all have the same effect, when played : They do nothing, unless you play no other card during your turn - then you may banish all hindrance cards in your discard pile at the end of your turn.


 * Destiny Deck - A stack of cards made up of nonbasic cards, decided upon by the players before starting the game. Cards are drawn from this deck to become omens, which the players then acquire.
 * Omens - A series of cards drawn from the Destiny Deck, revealed face up. These cards are what players may pick from when they acquire new cards.
 * Focus - A pile that contains only power focus cards. Players may alternatively purchase power focus cards rather than any of the omens.


 * Acquisition - The process of getting a card from the omens section and adding it to your Deck. Normally, these cards are then placed into your discard pile.
 * Acquisition Points (AP) - An abstracted numeric value that represents a card's ability to acquire more cards.
 * Cost - The Acquisition Points needed to acquire a card.


 * Arcana - Icons found on the cards that represent their classification. Most nonbasic cards require other cards with specific arcana to trigger their abilities.
 * Major Arcana - Normally seen on the upper left, above the minor arcana - represents a card's factional allegiance or another classification beyond their basic subtype. Some cards require other cards bearing the same Major Arcana to trigger secondary abilities and additional effects.
 * Minor Arcana - These represent the 'basic subtype' of the card. Note that some cards do not have minor arcana - these are considered 'Void' - they do not trigger any other minor arcana abilities.
 * Equipment - Minor Arcana that represents technology, material wealth and other gear. Represents the classical element of Earth.
 * Knowledge - Minor Arcana that represents intelligence, lore and technical skills. Represents the classical Element of Air.
 * Connections - Minor Arcana that represents relationships, allies, and charisma. Represents the classical Element of Water.
 * Brawn - Minor Arcana that represents physical strength, straightforward violence, and raw power. Represents the classical Element of Fire.
 * Hidden - Minor Arcana that represents the unseen, the inexplicable, the covert forces of nature. Represents the classical Element of Ether.


 * Ability - A card's effect when played - beyond their Acquisition Power and their Damage Potential. The actual effect is normally written on the card, or represented by a keyword.
 * Trigger Abilities - Some abilities require a condition before they take effect. These are usually written in the ability text.
 * Arcana Trigger Abilities (ATA) - Abilities usually require a card with a specific kind of arcana on the field before they trigger - in this case, the arcana is placed before the ability's section. Unless specified otherwise, each card's ATA can only trigger once during a turn.


 * Persistent - A kind of card that stays on your field after being played, rather than going to the discard pile. Normally these cards have a Threshold or a Barrier, otherwise they have a trigger that eventually removes it from play. Notably, persistent cards on the field trigger their ATA when you play a new card that has the specified arcana. It also counts as a 'card on the field' when triggering other arcana trigger abilities.
 * Threshold - An abstracted numeric value that represents a persistent's card to withstand damage. Cards with thresholds are usually 'physical' things that can be targetted and destroyed. Whenever a player declares an attack, they can apply damage to target the card rather than a player. If the damage dealt overcomes, or is equal to the card's threshold, it is disabled. However, all damage is removed from all thresholds at the end of a turn - so the required damage to disable it must be dealt within one turn.
 * Barrier - A type of threshold that protects the card's owner. For as long as a card with a barrier is active, its owner cannot be targetted by an attack. Barriers follow the same rules for threshold.


 * Reaction - A kind of card that can only be played when a condition is met. These cards can even be played during an opponent's turn, for as long as that condition occurs. Reaction cards take effect as soon as they are declared. All players must stop and resolve the effect of the reaction before taking any further actions. (For more info, see section on reactions below)


 * Significator - A character chosen by the destiny machinists to act in their games of fate. Each significator is represented in game by their own deck of cards that in turn represent their abilities, powers, gear, etc. These decks are selected at the start of the game then all shuffled into the Destiny Deck. A card's significator is also written below its name so that they can be reorganzed at the end of the game.