LogFAQs > #907128050

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I always loved L5R, but that was less about the game itself, and more about the community/environment around it. I just thought it was absolutely awesome that the results of tournaments would in turn alter the future plot of the setting (ie, in the original Day of Thunder event, a Lion player won the tournament, so in-game the Lion Champion became Emperor. But if the Crane player had won, the Crane Champion would have assumed the throne). And then events that were shaped by the game and embellished by canon short story fiction posted on the website or released in newsletters, and ultimately integrated into the RPG based on the setting.

I liked the look of L5R and I *think* I picked up a starter deck or something like that (apparently relating to the Unicorn Clan), but I never wound up learning the rules. The idea of a story-based system based on tourney results is really neat.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Fantasy Flight Games is a big presence in CCGs these days - you might want to check out their website to see if you can find something that might catch your fancy. They're the ones who just picked up and rebooted L5R, but they've got a few other games of their own as well.

Looks like they do a little of everything? I see miniatures games, board games, and RPGs there. Not seeing that many CCGs, but I guess they're probably buried in the other products section.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Another big trend in card games these days is trying to release games that are more self-contained as opposed to collectible deck-building (like Magic or Pokemon). Where you just buy a set and play off of that (like Coup or Fluxx), though that's hardly a new idea (because games like Uno have been around forever). Those can actually be much better to play for casual players who don't want to devote tons of time or money to playing, and can often have unique rules or complex interactions that other games don't necessarily use.

Entirely self-contained sets sound a little boring, unless it's a shallower game like Uno. Are most of those built around two themed decks? Do they pool cards together during the game (a la Uno)? Or do the cards get shuffled, split, and separated into two decks? Because that last idea is intriguing if they also incorporate resource management.

At any rate, I *think* most CCGs do starter or theme decks so in theory it's not that hard for a casual to get into the game (especially since they tend to avoid obscure mechanics).

ParanoidObsessive posted...

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Also, my brain keeps tickling around the idea of a game that used to have Tarot-ish cards and an elemental theme, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called (I keep thinking "Ever-something", but I'm not sure that's right). I remember someone jury-rigged it into an Amber DRPG campaign they ran, but I'm pretty sure there were ways to play it stand-alone.

Just figured it out - it was called Everway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everway

Kind of a neat concept for a RPG. tbh, I always found character creation the most interesting part of any RPG. The rest always started to bore me.
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