Dreams of Flying

I'm on a hiatus. A hiatus. Hi-a-tus. OK, I just have to get that point out first and out of the way before I can continue the article. I am getting tired of people asking "Are you really on hiatus?" Yes, I'm on a hiatus, a break, a time off making MND custom cards so that I can do other things. I hope that is clear.

So what about Exodus Flight and the next few custom sets? When I end the hiatus, whenever that may be, I will continue working on the custom cards. When I choose to work on them. Below are my thoughts regarding the direction that Exodus Flight will be taking...

Arderial - It needs to expand on its telepathy ability - i.e. to look through an opponent's hand to do something. The other thing I'd like to explore in Arderial would be the Resistance effect, and variations thereof, i.e. This relic can only be affected by Arderial Spells, This Creature can only be affected by Arderial powers, etc. Oh and EF will probably be the first expansion ever not to have a Xyx! I'll probably let someone design the region for a change. Yes, Arderial is powerful so it has to be someone who knows the ins and outs of the other regions, particularly Orothe so as not to design broken cards. If one can be found...

Bograth - Christoph did a good job the last time around, and I see no reason why he shouldn't do it here again. Bograth needs help for its shifty deck (still!), but support for Stuff will take a backseat in this set. Hopefully the Transformers, particularly Ninibom going 4th, will see something to help them along. I also wonder if a magi or a relic with the ability "As an opposing card discards all your creature from play, choose a creature - that creature is not discarded" or something like that. A Volcanic bograth creature might also be interesting.

Cald - Oh boy, I get more than 6 cards in EF to play around with in Cald. Support naturally goes to creatureful Cald and defensive Cald, both hopefully with a bigger bite. Volcanic creatures will probably get a boost. More importantly though, I want to take the mechanism introduced in TR where creatures are removed from the discard (shuffled back to deck) to discard energy. That seems an interesting way to go.

Core - Another region that I'd like to let someone else design, but Core is one of the hardest region to design for because of the special rules. Core in EF will probably be setting up for AoD/AE (yes, those are the initials of that set at this point in time) and I don't want to reveal too much there. The other thing with Core is that the original RP cards has something similar to the Oracles in the form of the 7 deadly sins, so this might get incorporated.

d'Resh - The power level in d'Resh has been rising fast over the last few expansions, so I think I should limit it a bit by designing it on my own, although I would rather someone else take over the design chores for this region. Recurring decks need to get a bit more nastier and more useful, Oracles need some support, but otherwise, it'll be pretty much low key.

Kybar's Teeth - This is Bobby's region mainly and I know he's looking for small creatures with invulnerability, well, this expansion will probably feature that. Perpetual Motion still needs a lot of support so I hope he'll design cards with that in mind to make the decktype better. I'd also like to see something to support a Baldar deck, and a KT magi who can play rainbow cards, pretty much like T'Dek and Travelling Healer.

Nar - Mitch was rather excited someone was playing his Puddle Arboll the other day. Nar is his 2nd region and he usually have fun with it. His Kintor decktype still does need some support, and I would like to see Nar making life difficult if an opposing magi was from Orothe. Hopefully he remembers that creatureless Nar players would like some great spells as well. Other than that though, it's a good chance to build up Nar's creature type menagarie.

Naroom - "D", the other regular poster on this blog, pretty much is the Naroom player on gEngine and although I would say he's the weakest of the current batch of people who I've got designing cards, he's also one of the best once he gets some direction. I hope this time he realises that Forest cards (if any) are for the Forest decktype, for example. There was a huge hue and cry about Hoctne, so perhaps this would be a good time to play up her strength by creating creatures that do something extra if played during the Play Creatures stage... and there are a lot of creatures to work with this time.

Orothe - Mitch's other region, and his main one. I have no idea what he has in mind for this though. What I'd like to see is more dice action with Orothe cards going back to the theme established in EL. Perhaps also, something to go against overgrowth and Naroom in general... now that would be interesting to see. One thing I'm tired about is the relic support. I know it'll probably get some, but I hope not to see too much of this in EF, especially after Xarien/Burkey/Orlon's Ring. I guess Doug has got me turned off by relics for Orothe after all.

Paradwyn - Scarletsong probably won't get too much this expansion, and Dreamwarp is the norm. I really need to see if Stalking, both creatures and magi could be made more efficient. I want to create a creature that stalks a magi for starters and something that would make attacking stalked creatures at a disadvantage. Hmm... why just attacking... could extend it to powers as well I guess, or maybe not.

Underneath - I haven't even finished collecting the artwork for Underneath at the moment so that will have to be done after the hiatus. Tim though is the man for Underneath and I liked his designs so far. People are clamouring for more Crystal support so I hope that will make the cut. Korrits too need something to go for them in this expansion. Creatureless too. Hopefully all that will be catered for.

Weave - I need to play a few games with the Weave TW cards before I decide what Weaves needs in EF. Perhaps something that would make a creature that can't attack actually attack by shuffling a card from discard back to deck. That would be interesting. Some more attached spells would also be helpful for Weave, but there aren't that many spells in this set, so that's out of the picture. More support for the Weave mechanic is a definate given, but what about a other-Weave, where you get to move or remove an energy from an opposing creature that you're attacking? It could be interesting...

So, that's what I have in mind now... but a lot can change between now and when I end my hiatus, whenever that may be. If anyone wants to ask me "Can I design region X?", don't even bother, the answer is "No". It has been my policy for a while now that anyone who asks me to let them design a region usually get declined because of perceived lack of humility.

If you do want to design cards though, show an interest - write up playtest reports for the cards being playtested, join in the card designing contests on the Custom Card forums, write up 101s for a region or two. If I notice the interest and I think you are good enough, I might even ask you to design a region when I end my hiatus... if ever!