Board 8 > Tom makes a wrestling-themed deckbuilder for NaGaDeMon

(+) Yeah! (+)

I did a mercs deckbuilder last year, and this time I think I have a more workable idea maybe. I'm gonna try to chip away at it a bit each day and have it in a reasonably playable form by the end of the month!

The basic concept is that you'll play wrestlers from your hand to make matches. The wrestlers determine the star ratings of the match, and the star ratings determine what cards you can acquire to replace what you used. You're trying to either be the first to get a ***** match, or have the highest rating when somebody is unable to make a match. You'll also be able to acquire stipulations and events and stuff to boost your matches or mess with opponents.

I'll update this topic and if anybody else is making a game we can share >_>
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Did a sanity test on my mechanics. This is going to be a very quick-playing game!
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ehhhh
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Go Tom Go.
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Here is a more fleshed out rules concept:

Everybody starts with ten Jobbers in their deck.
X cards are dealt into the middle from a center deck containing one of every card- those are available for hiring, and replaced from the center deck when they are hired.
On your turn you:
-Play one Event, Stipulation, Manager, or other type of card I might invent from your hand, if you want.
-Play two wrestlers (or a different number for some Stipulations) in front of your as your "match." These stay in front of you the rest of the game.
-Each wrestler has a Skill rating. The total of those Skill ratings (and sometimes further factors, such as matching Style Icons) determines the Match Rating.
-Hire ONE card from those currently dealt to the center, with a Cost not exceeding your highest Match Rating. You must hire, even if you have to hire a 0-cost Jobber from a stock pile.
-Draw back up to five cards.
The game ends when somebody executes a ***** Match Rating, or when somebody is unable to create a Match or draw back up to five.
Highest Match Rating wins- ties broken by second-highest, then third-highest, and so forth.

Wrestlers will have a cost slightly below twice their expected value (so most of the wrestlers you could hire at ** will have a * skill, but effects or Skill Icons to allow them to potentially contribute more than that to a match)

Events could boost your matches already in play, or hamper those of your opponents.
(things like injuries, botches, or titles) Might also throw in some cards that deal with deck management or Hiring as well.

Managers give a wrestler a small boost

Stipulations will be things like "triple threat" or "ladder." Some will change the number of wrestlers in a match (and therefore how the Match Rating is calculated) and some will just have bonii, Style Icons, or other effects.

Style Icons are on many wrestlers and some other cards, representing things like "Brawling" or "High Flying." You get an extra 1/2*(?) for every matching symbol beyond the first in a match.

It's gonna take like ten minutes to play with those rules, lol >_> I'm not sure that's a problem, but everything I can think of for extending gameplay would kinda make it lame in some way. (You could have a bigger starting deck, but then it'd take longer to cycle in new cards. You could have multiple Hires in one turn, but that would take TOO long if forced and there would rarely be a reason to bother otherwise.)
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Tag
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tag
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wouldn't hold my breath for today but one never knows
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missed some good opportunities to work on this >_>
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Probably better idea, which should make the game last more than 5 minutes:
-Start with 15 crummy cards instead of 10
-Discard the rest of your hand at the end of turn before drawing up to 5
-Game ends when somebody can't make a match, not when they can't draw to 5
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Also we have a name: "Card Subject to Change"

Also I am gonna go for 50 wrestlers in the supply, 20 events, 20 stipulations, and 10 managers. Something like that.

My goal is to make this something I COULD print and/or sell in a limited capacity, even though I almost certainly won't
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New rule: You're not allowed to play a Stipulation if you don't have the Wrestlers available to use it.

Was debating on whether to make that a rule or not (Wouldn't be opposed to having that be an intentional strat for ending the game) but then I realized how hard it would be to pull off a tag match
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ScareChan posted...

tag

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we'll see what I can swing today
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not much!
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Attending a NaNoWriMo "write-in" with my wife, and slamming this pretty hard.

...I'm running surprisingly low on ideas for actual cards, beyond just vanilla stuff. Anybody have any stipulations, events, mechanics, or references they'd like to see?
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Ladder, cage, tables, chairs, something on a pole match

Number 1 contender match, Loser Leaves Town match, Hair vs Hair match, Submission match, Last man Standing match
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Thanks, I had ideas for quite a few of those!
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Hoping to playtest soon
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Got to play games tonight!
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here are the non-vanilla things I have so far btw! It's Name/Cost/Pop/Effects

Wrestlers:
Surprise wrestler1.50Reveal cards from the Center Deck until a Wrestler is revealed. Trash this card, and play the revealed Wrestler instead.
Boogerhead0.50E
Red Oni2.51R* bonus if in a Match with Blue Oni
Blue Oni2.51R* bonus if in a Match with Red Oni
Night Owl3?This Wrestler's Pop is equal to the number of your Matches played previously, divided by 2, rounded down to the nearest 1/2*.
Mymyk1.5?When playing Mymyk, choose another Wrestler in Mymyk's match. Treat Mymyk as an exact copy of that Wrestler.
Iron Mark21After Iron Mark is played, return this card to the top of the Center Deck. Iron Mark is still considered to be in play despite not being physically present. (You may wish to represent him with a token)
Tude Dude10When Hiring Tude Dude, you may send him to an opponent's discard pile instead of your own.
A Broom0.50Draw 2 cards (before playing more Wrestlers, if applicable)
Murder Jack22RIgnore the Pop of all other Wrestlers in this match.

Stips:
Triple Threat3Match uses three wrestlers. Take the Pop of the top two wrestlers, but symbols and effects from all three. Hire one extra card in your Hire phase.
Submission0.5T
Hair vs. Hair0.5E
Cage0.5R
Ladder0.5F
Tag TeamThis matches uses two of your Wrestlers, but also the two Wrestlers with the lowest Cost from the Hiring Pool. (You may choose in case of ties.) Symbols and effects from all four wrestlers take effect, but Match Rating is based on the Pop of either your two wrestlers or the two from the Pool.
Interpromotional matchChoose an opponent. Each of you (opponent first) play a Wrestler (and optionally a Manager) to a Match. This Match is considered to be yours as well as theirs. Afterwards, the chosen opponent draws to 5.
Gauntlet matchWhen this Stipulation is played, immediately put it in the place of a wrestler from one of your previous matches. Remove that wrestler, and play it in the current match.
Title match21
Main event41If this Sitpulation is played, you may take no further turns. All other players take one more turn, and then the game ends as if somebody was unable to play.
Wheel of Destiny0.5When this Stipulation is played, discard cards from the top of the Center Deck until a Stipulation is discarded. Play that Stipulation if possible, in addition to this one.
I Quit1.5Only count the Pop of the top Wrestler in this Match, but double it.
Object on a Pole1You may Hire an additional time this turn.
Lockbox Challenge2EImmediately Hire the top card of the Center Deck.
#1 Contender Match10.5
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well that formatted like poop but hopefully it's not too big a pain to read >_>

events
Dark Match2Choose a match. All cards attached to that match are moved to that player's discard pile.
Entrance Runin1Reveal three wrestlers from your hand. If you do, trash one of them.
Botch1Play to a match. That match receives -1 *
Talent Raid2Look at an opponent's hand. Take a Wrestler and add it to your own. The opponent draws 1 card.
Promo1Play to a match. Matched E symbols are worth double for that match.
Injury2Play to a wrestler. That wrestler receives -2 *
Windfall1You are considered to have an extra ** on your highest match, solely for the purpose of Hiring this turn.
Hardcore Crowd2Keep in play. Your R symbols, matched or not, are worth an additional 1/2*
Grappling Tradition2Keep in play. Cards with T symbols have * lower Cost for you.
Global Reach3Whenever you would draw to 5, instead draw to 6.
Golden Age3.5Give a card from the Center Pool to each player in any order. Replenish the Center Pool only after all players have a card.
New Generation1Discard all cards from the Center Pool, then replenish the Center Pool.
Development Territory2Draw 2 cards
Hype Video1Play to a match. That match receives +1/2*
Slow Burn1Reveal three wrestlers from your hand. If you do, set one aside with this card. On future turns, you may play the set-aside Wrestler as if from your hand.
Busy Tour4Take another turn immediately after this one.
Slow Bus1Look at an opponent's hand. Choose a card for them to discard, then they draw a card.
Working Agreement0.5Exchange a card from your hand with a card from the Center Pool
Sight Unseen1In the Hiring Phase, Hire the top card of the Center Deck instead of Hiring normally.
Spending Spree3You may Hire as many times as you want this turn.

Managers
Smart Mark1T
iCandy1E
1R
1F
11/2*
Old Schoolmarm2*1/2Cannot be played on a match with a Stipulation, or if you've played an Event this turn.
Brains of the Operation4**
Phillip J. Moneyworth3*This turn, Wrestlers are considered to have * less Cost during Hiring.
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More today, probably. Need to get more wrestlers made :\
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Goal today is to make physical cards so I can start playtesting once I fill out the set a bit better.
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Did so, and ran a test!

....That was about the most boring game I've ever played. Good news is I think it can be fixed by adjusting balance! The main issue is that it takes forever to ramp, which is no bueno in a game this short. I'm gonna overhaul the cost-benefit balance, and tweak the "freebie" cards to help keep the Center Pool from stagnating with cards nobody can hire.

-The generic option will be buffed. Still costs 0, but provides * (up from 1/2*) and now will discard the most expensive card in the Center Pool when bought. Might add a restriction that it can only be Hired as a last resort.
-Other cards will be buffed accordingly. I'm not sure what exactly that will look like, but I think a blanket +1/2* buff to every card in the game wouldn't be far out of place.
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Another good(?) idea:

-Instead of having a starting deck of 15 generic, crappy dudes, I think I'll have you start with a random set of 15 generic crappy dudes that have tiny boosts. I'm worried this might make things too swingy, but it would make the first three turns actually interesting to play, and also might help with the ramping problem as well.

I gotta be careful though because this is a short game so I don't want to make anything TOO powerful or it'll just be "who got the lucky spike first"
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but on the other hand if I'm too afraid of swinginess nobody will ever have the resources to do anything interesting

anyway, the bonii I currently have for the jobbers:

T
T
E
E
R
R
F
F
*
*
Discard your deck
+1 Hire
Extra 1/2* for this turn Hiring
Hire to top of deck this turn
Cycle most expensive card from Pool
Rearrange and/or discard the top five cards of the Center Deck
Put a discard on top of your Deck
+1/2* if Stip
+1/2* if Manager
+1/2* if Event
Hire a Local Talent (generic freebie)
Pass a card from your hand to an opponent
Trash a card from your hand

need at least a few more
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not much today
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Handful more Jobbers and other cards made!
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possible further testing this evening
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possible (but unlikely) further designing this evening
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couple more cards today

hoping to really get grooving during thanksgiving break
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Updated all my cards, and ran another test. This is a lot closer to how I envisioned things going! I'll play a few more games and try to get a full set of cards ready, but I think I'm pretty close to a satisfactory product!
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probably nothin' today
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proooobably nothin' today
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probably playtesting tonight with actual real people who are not myself!
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It went well! Ramp is still not quite what I want, but it's a lot closer. Also I think I might skew the ratio a bit away from wrestlers and towards other types of cards. It's a 50/50 split currently, but it feels like the other types rarely see play.
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Starting to investigate if it's feasible to print and/or sell this game later

heck we could even do expansions although I don't immediately have ideas for what they'd add to the table mechanically
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this requires me to at some point not be flooded with work
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so like january maybe
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only half kidding
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make yer own dang copies
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even my days off are busy
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but we're on the home stretch
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sorta
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but now I've lost all my momentum
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:(
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stuff never ends
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;--;
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You can do it
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