2005 Lang Codex Archive
8/25/2005GenCon Wrap-Upby Casey Galvan
Greetings again fellow star-spawns and investigators! As many of you are aware, the new expansion, Masks of Nyarlathotep, is scheduled to be released in late October/early November of this year, and it won't be too long before we delve into spoiler territory. But I'm not here today to spoil any of the new cards. No, today we're going to recap GenCon Indy, and what it means for the future of the Call of Cthulhu CCG. I think as a whole, it was a very positive experience, and Eric and I had a blast hanging out with the fans and (when we could) gunslinging for prizes. I would also like to congratulate Greg Gan, our first Call of Cthulhu World Champion, as well as Scott Ferguson, our runner up. Well played, and we hope to you see next year!
Meta Game Implications
With the introduction of Eldritch Edition, R&D attempted to take CoC in another direction. On many levels, I think we succeeded. In other areas, we may have miscalculated the impact of certain cards. I'm sure many of you are guessing I'm talking about the "speed rainbow" decks that placed highly in the world championships. Some of the players I spoke to had negative reactions to these decks to say the least. Without treading over old ground, let's go into the process that brought about these decks. It's not a simple question, and it won't have a simple answer, but I'll do my best to shed some light on the subject.
In any CCG, there are many "layers" which comprise the game and the subsequent metagame. As part of R&D my job is to try and provide each player type with a suitable layer in the game so they may find enjoyment. Some groups of players simply love all things Lovecraft, and wish for nothing more than a fun game where they can take on the role of an Elder Shoggoth, driving humanity insane. Other players are looking for a new experience, a cool combo, or something that hasn't done before. When Cthulhu is riding a Packard, everything is ok in the universe. And for some, the game is all about a 1-on-1 competition where every move has a deep strategic meaning and there is nothing better than matching wits with your opponent.
The trick is, things aren't always so black and white. While you may find yourself falling into 1 of the 3 categories, that doesn't exclude you from the other. And in a casual setting, I think Call of Cthulhu is perfectly fine. But in the higher-end tournament environment, things are not where we would like them to be.
Eldritch Speed
Many of the you may be wondering why the newest base set for CoC had seemingly ramped up the speed of the game. This was for many reasons, namely game balance. I know you must be shocked, but yes, game balance. In the Arkham block most competitive decks had drifted towards heavy, heavy control using Cthulhu faction cards. This deck type was consistently on top barring the odd Shub splash, or the "Red Tide" decks with which you may be familiar. Were other deck types viable? Yes. But as consistent and well rounded? No. So in Eldritch our goal was to speed things up in order to give these control decks a hard time. For those of you not familiar, the usual trinity of deck types goes like this: control, combo, speed. Speed beats control, combo beats speed and control beats combo. Again, its not as simple as that but you get the picture.
Our error was misjudging the impact some of these cards had. But rest assured we're in the process of correcting these mistakes. CoC is heading in some exciting places, and we've learned some valuable lessons from Eldritch. In the coming weeks, the community can expect a new FAQ which should remedy many of these issues, and provide an open environment where as many deck types as possible are viable in the tournament format. As always, we're interested in hearing your feedback. While I can't guarantee anything, we are always willing to listen to player feedback and concerns. This is your game, and we want you to have fun.
Before I go, I'd like to thank you everyone I met at Gencon, you guys reminded me of why I do what I do. I really enjoyed talking and meeting everyone and I can't wait for next year! Join us next week, for an all new Lang Codex!
8/05/2005Tales From the Deskby Eric Lang
Hey again, readers! It looks like it's time for me to 'guest' a column and give poor Casey a break for a couple of weeks. Since by now Eldritch Edition has been available for a little bit, I figured it was time to write some design-related exposition.
This week I'm going to go over the design process in a bit more general fashion, and the following week I'll dig a bit deeper into Eldritch.
D & D ' Design and Development
One of the first items I thought to illuminate a bit is the difference between design and development, as the two are quite different. For those of you completely uninterested in how things work behind the curtain at FFG, just ignore the next couple of paragraphs. In fact, you may want to ignore the whole column. But if you stick around, I'll try to make it pay off.
Design (my job) is all about the big picture. It's my duty to create interesting, new environments for you to play in. With this in mind, I have to come up with sets and unifying themes that have a compelling 'value proposition' to the players. In essence, it's my job to keep you hooked and playing because the game keeps gets more and challenging and fun.
Development (Casey's job) is all about the execution and the details. It generally requires you to be a much better player than a designer would need to be, and luckily Casey is pretty close to the best CCG player I have ever met. After the first draft of the design is finished, it's the developer's responsibility to fine tune everything to make sure it stays true to the designer's intent and improve it to create the most polished final product we can.
In a nutshell: I make the stuff, and Casey makes sure it works the way it's meant to. I hate to pat ourselves on the back, but I think we make a pretty damn good team.
One day I'll convince Casey to write a column outlining the development process, but that'll be for another day. This week is about design.
The Beginning
The design process for our CCG's keeps evolving, and as my duties become more specialized, I get to dig even deeper into the dark places that Cthuloid inspiration hides in. As many people know, I am basically a glorified game geek and play (and design) just about every type of game there is. The more stuff I get into, the more influences make their way into this game.
Good design starts far away from anything even remotely resembling 'coming up with cool cards.' It starts with inspiration, and that's the most elusive of all creative elements. It can come in any form, and from any source. I play a lot of games (of all different types), and read a lot about them. Of course, the most innovative ideas tend to come from non-gaming related inspiration, but too much innovation is also a dangerous thing in these games (that's the topic of a whole new column, though).
I play a lot of board games, classic card games, computer games, dexterity games, and even try to play sports once in awhile. There are many fundamental rules for game design, but the truest of all is: never stop playing games.
Preparing a Set for Design
One thing that most aspiring CCG designers aren't quite aware of is that, like writing for Hollywood, about half of the work (maybe even more) for a card set is done even before the first card is added to a set. These sets aren't about a random collection of card ideas that sound cool on paper, they are about creating fun new environments for players to enjoy year after year.
I put together four design documents every year: one for the block as a whole, and one for each expansion within the block. The design document is an articulation of all the themes and mechanics the block showcases, and how they evolve throughout the year. Writing the document is easy. Formulating the ideas that come together to make it all work is the hard part. A block's themes usually 'incubate' for about six months before the first design document is written.
The purpose of the design document is twofold: one, it is a proof of concept that helps 'sell' the block to Casey, the FFG marketing department and the business developer. If it holds up here, it's good to go. Two, it serves as my guide throughout the design period. While I am building the blueprint for the set, every decision made must be justifiable within the context of the document.
Coming up with ideas for themes is relatively easy, especially for Cthulhu. The mythos is so incredibly rich and varied that we haven't even begun to scratch the surface. The game itself has so many interesting unexplored areas of design space that I find it difficult to limit the 'waiting list' of cool mechanical themes to ten items or less.
There is a difference, however, between 'cool ideas' and 'cool environments.' The latter is what makes for great CCG sets. The former is a small but necessary ingredient in the greater recipe.
Generally, it takes about 2 months of experimenting to come up with a mix of themes that is both fun and deep enough to last an entire block. This is, of course, all done in my 'spare time' (as I'm always coming back to current designs for both of our games even when they have long passed the first drafts). Eldritch came together in three weeks, but that is the exception.
Blueprints
Often during the incubation period of a set I will have generated somewhere around 100 random cards that act as proof of concept for the mechanics. A few of these cards actually make the cut into the first draft, but that doesn't come until later. Building the set's blueprint is the hardest (and most fun) part of the process.
What is the blueprint? Pretty much what you expect; it starts out as an Excel file with a whole bunch of blank fields, each one awaiting a card to fill it. After deciding how many cards of each rarity each faction (including neutral) is to get, I assign rarities to the blank fields. Then the real work begins. In accordance with the design document, it's my job to fill the fields with card 'specs' that work together to meet the value proposition of the set. Specs are basically parameters for what each card is required to do; some specs may read as simple as '[Agency, common] Big combat guy' or as focused as '[neutral, rare] 2-cost event to reinforce [Theme X] by [mechanic Y].'
The blueprint usually takes me a couple of weeks to put together. I know the mechanics work in general, as we playtest them as a concept before even beginning the set, so now it's time to make them shine. It's methodical, almost scientific work at this stage, but I love it to death. A large part of expansion design is somewhat analogous to engineering, except you get to use intuition to solve most problems.
Also, in order to ensure that the set is not too dry and mechanical, I make sure to leave several slots for 'randomly interesting' cards. These will be cards that work with the general theme of the block or set, but don't have an integrated purpose. Cards like this also help to ensure that the post-development metagame doesn't become too controlled by R&D; we don't want to be building your decks for you.
During the preparatory stages of design, it's also important to me to leave some 'breathing' time, where I don't even look at or think about the set. This allows me to return to it later with a fresh perspective.
(Breathing time is easy to get here at FFG, since there are a ton of games to be working on the meantime).
Can I Make a Card Yet?
Finally, after all the prep work has been done (about a total of 3 months of my spare time), I get to design new cards and plug the ones I've already designed into the blueprint. This is also the part of the process where art trumps science in several ways.
Sometimes it's just right to put a card into the set because it's 'cool.' If it fits the goals of the set, but still sticks out because people walk by my office and make a comment about it ('that's really neat!' usually works), it usually makes it into the draft. Not every card can be totally exciting (the game would suck, honestly, if that were the case), but the cards that are end up being a big part of the game experience, and I will often bend the rules to make sure they stay.
People often ask me 'how do you come up with cool cards?' My answer to this is often something along the lines of 'cool cards are the easy part.' And honestly, if it were any other way, I'd have no right to be calling myself a game designer.
Conclusion
It's extremely important to keep in mind, at all times, that game design is part science but mostly art. This doesn't mean we get to do what we want and break the rules on a whim, but that what we do here is not rocket science or brain surgery. When designing a set, or any game for that matter, I always try to keep in mind that we are engineering an experience, and experience is by definition a subjective thing. We are trying to get you excited and keep you excited, and different things excite different people.
What I wrote above is a fairly general approach to design for a CCG; hopefully aspiring designers and curious readers found something in there. The most important thing to keep in mind, however, is that the approach varies slightly from set to set. In creative work, you have to keep varying your tempo, or things get stale.
Masks of Nyarlathotep, the forthcoming expansion, follows a lot of these guidelines, but I broke a couple of fundamental rules in the process. In order to keep you all on your toes, it's the least I can do to shake things up on this end too.
That's all I have for this week! I miss writing these columns, but unfortunately just don't have the time to keep them up at this pace. I'll make sure to pop in from time to time, though, to give Casey a break.
Join me next week, when I talk a bit about the Eldritch design process in particular.
7/15/2005Obligatory Origins Recapby Casey Galvan
Hello again everyone! I must apologize because I may have promised a spoiler article, but I forgot about Origins! What is Origins? I'm glad you asked. For those of you looking for a bit more on the other non-CCG Origins story, check out the Designer Journal on the AGOT site. But first, a bit of back-story.
The months of June and July have been hectic to say the least here in sunny Minnesota. As you may be aware, we've gone international with our CCG printings which means we've got things planned for many months in advance. I could go into more details, but it makes my head hurt. Suffice to say, I'll have to apologize if I don't make sense all the time, as my frame of mind is 6 months down the road (Masks of Nyarlathotep is gonna be sweet).
Ok, where was I? Ah yes, Origins. The convention leading up to the big dance known as Gencon Indy. FFG released Arkham Horror (which has gotten some great reviews, and sold out at the show) as well as the new Call of Cthulhu card coffins which also sold out. Besides the business end, Origins has always held a spot in my heart because being formerly of Michigan it was a pretty quick trip and I could always count on seeing many of my Midwest gaming friends. The general feeling about Origins is a much more relaxed atmosphere and of course, Origins is not nearly as crowded as Gencon. Which believe me, has its advantages.
Now that I work in the gaming industry things are much different. Speaking from experience, Origins has always been tricky because you never can tell how its going to go. How so? Well taking our A Game of Thrones CCG as an example:
Origins 2003 - 20 participants
Gencon 2003 - 70 participants
Origins 2004 - 12-15 participants
Gencon 2004 - 80+ participants
Origins 2005 - 8-10 participants
Gencon 2005 - ???
As you can see, the attendance for Origins ebbs and flows but Gencon has increased in size every year so far. We're expecting 80-100 players this year, and in the Cthulhu sense we're expecting at least 30-50 players. Since it is the first world championship event (just like AGOT had in 2003) you never can tell how many people are going to play. But we're planning on making this event extremely cool for anyone who plans to play. Everyone will walk anyway with something, and I'm not talking about just a promo card, but you'll have to wait and see. The "convention guide" I created for Origins was helpful and we'll take it a step further for Gencon that should make navigating the con extremely easy. But while we're on the subject of Origins...
Booster Pack Heart Attack
Now knowing that Origins is a bit slower and more relaxed, that means that Eric and I can enjoy the best part of our jobs: fan interaction. As I said before being on the other side of the fence I can no longer compete in tournaments which was the thing I enjoyed the most as a player. But in its stead, I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with the fans and I enjoy their enjoyment of our new products or tournaments. Sometimes, just sometimes when the stars are right , R&D might even get a chance to play in a very casual tournament setting. But what format? That's the real question.
As Eric can attest to, once you step into the R&D role of a gaming product like a CCG, skill sets you might not have had earlier (such as big picture sense) sharpen, but sometimes at the expense of short term skills like meta game knowledge or deck building acumen. Now, as the CCG developer at FFG its my job to know these things. But I must admit, in the whirlwind of activity releasing new sets in conjunction with our international partners, working with our marketing department to expand the player base among the numerous other duties that entail my job, its tough to stay on the cutting edge as I used to. While I still play test in house extensively, I find that our play testers will become even more valuable as the game gets larger and the community grows.
So with that in mind, the obvious choice is booster draft! Especially with a brand new Edition fresh from the printers R&D was eager to mix it up in a limited setting. Keep in mind that we do design/develop sets with limited formats in mind (and yes, I know we released fetch stick! Hush, you). It was a pleasure to meet and play against some of the game's best. I hesitate to name too many names because in my old age I have a bad memory and hate to butcher people's names (just today I stopped calling Dan, our marketing associate, Don). I will however, congratulate Greg Gan on his Chaos Cup Victory!
The Wrap Up
So in between my tangents I'd like to thank everyone from FFG for making this convention an enjoyable one, and especially the fans who really made this convention one of a kind. Oh yeah, thanks again to Donald W. for giving me these super cool Cthulhu drain tokens which were the talk of the office and everyone thought they were extremely cool. In an unfortunate turn of events, our digital camera is temporarily broken, so I can't show everyone the cool tokens and stone trophies that were given out this year. But never fear, I'll figure something out!
So enjoy Eldritch Edition folks and stay tuned for an official Gencon announcement as well as an exclusive promo that will only be available at Gencon 2005! Hope to see you there, and join me next week for an all new Lang Codex where we'll discuss a little meta game strategy and what kind of promotions you can expect this fall!
6/24/2005Grain Alcohol and Wooden Shoesby Casey Galvan
Welcome back to another round of Eldritch Edition spoilers! Last week we delved a little into two factions that are getting some interesting cycles of cards to boost their power, but in a way you might not expect. This week, we're going to go back to basics. Nothing Machiavellian here folks, but that doesn't mean it won't make an impact.
Thug Life
Literally speaking, the Cthulhu gangsters are a bunch of 90 pound weaklings! Since Arkham and following every set there has never been a character with extra toughness. Go figure. You would think a bunch of hardened mobsters would at least go down swinging, but alas, they haven't. Of course, in Eldritch things are going to change.
There are many implications with this card, and of course there would be when you're fundamentally adding a subtheme as big as this. Right now, the current meta game is heavily focused on board control and removal. R&D wanted to shift some of the focus back to the story phase. We were successful in some degree with the "pump" cards that were introduced in Forbidden Relics. But, we wanted more.
Now like I said last week, we believe in letting the players dictate the meta game, not the designers. That said, there is also a section of the player base that doesn't enjoy or use removal effects. And in Eldritch Edition, its all about having options. By having these options, its no longer a matter of including cards to make a good deck, and not including them to make a bad deck. Rather think of this as many possible routes to victory, without having to build "cookie cutter" decks. Previously unconsidered characters might actually see play, who knows, something unexpected?
Time for a change?
As part of R&D, I'll state right now that its ok to "tweak" a current deck type and alter it slightly to shake up the meta game. And in the very least, try to open up another variety of deck type by adding in a card that shifts an element of game play to explore some area that isn't being as used as much (perhaps the story phase?). Research and play testing proved that removal effects, if not monitored closely would because too abundant, and thus create a less than optimal environment for our big picture goals.
Again, we're trying to please as many players types as possible, and you can bet Eldritch is going to shake things up - big time. So, will this spell the end for removal? No, I think not. Removal will always be around and viable, but at least now it won't always be a race to see who can draw the most removal to win that crucial story card. Having characters last more than a couple turns should make things quite interesting, to say the least. Join me in 2 weeks for the all new Edition of the Lang Codex featuring the last of the Eldritch Spoilers before the product hits stores in July.
I must apologize dear reader as this edition of the Lang Codex is very brief, but for good reason! I hope to meet many of you at Origins 2005! Both Eric Lang (lead designer) and Casey Galvan (your humble author) will be in attendance running events and gunslinging with the fans for cool prizes and promotional cards. We'll be happy to answer all questions and address as many comments and or concerns as possible. We love interacting with the fans so bring your "A" game, your best deck and prepare for Origins 2005! See you next week.
For those of you who won't be able to attend, we will miss you there. But don't worry we'll post plenty of pictures and spoiler information at the convention once we get back. So join us in 2 weeks for an all new Lang Codex featuring Eldritch Edition and an Origins 2005 wrap up! You don't want to miss this one!
6/16/2005Red-Headed Step Childrenby Casey Galvan
Greetings and welcome back to another Edition of the Lang Codex! If you're just joining us we've been spoiling some of the cool new mechanics and features Eldritch Edition has to offer. Last week's edition brought you the new subtype Ritual, which promises to shake things up in ways you can't imagine (or maybe you can.) But regardless, it's gonna be huge.
I also alluded to Eldritch "bringing back" some older style archetypes back into the tournament fold which we're going to talk about today. But first, the obligatory back story.
Baby Steps
R&D has the perilous task of creating a new set to appeal to all the player types. Even more important is finding the right balance to satisfy the old timers who've been with the game since its inception, and the younger guys looking for a fresh start with Eldritch Edition. You see, we tried very hard to make Eldritch feel very new and exciting, but also have a sense of familiarity.
Now, because we've revisited some of the older themes, don't be fooled. They are in ways you might not expect. Today's cards are going to put the spotlight directly on Hastur and the Miskatonic factions, which in many ways are the perceived red-headed step-children of Cthulhu. Let's look at the Miskatonic card first.
The Quandary
It's simple CCG theory. Card draw wins games. You draw more cards, there is a high chance you're going to win. Miskatonic is the undisputed king of draw. So why aren't they winning? This is a simple question but with a long, complex answer. For the sake of time, we're going to condense it today and spotlight what we wanted to do with Eldritch.
Miskatonic is the faction with a lot of bark, but very little bite. Many of the card draw effects it has are good, but are simply "splashed" in other decks for the effect, or simply cost too much to be effective. I haven't seen a pure, or mainly Miskatonic deck win in quite awhile at any level tournament. But it's a delicate balance, because again -- simple CCG theory. Add too much card draw, too many good characters and you have a juggernaut that is going to really create a problem in the meta game. So, how to address this?
Enter in the new draw. Today's card is one of a few cool new draw effects that are exclusively Miskatonic. They don't provide the large amount of card advantage that the older effects do, but have that "bite" we've been looking for. An interesting twist on hand manipulation is really going to spice things up. And in case you're wondering, yes, Miskatonic gets cool new characters. But alas, that's another article.
Hastur, the little faction that could
Hastur has in many ways been the most dominant faction nobody talks about. Since the first release, discard decks have found a way to simultaneously annoy and defeat many an opponent. But factor in some minor nerfing (Behind the Pallid Mask) and some magic bullets (Bust of Hypnos) and you better think twice before deciding to run that deck. But that's a good thing. Come Eldritch, things are going to change. This time, we gave a magic bullet type card to Hastur, but in a faction specific flavor (discard).
So I bet you're wondering why R&D decided to add this little gem. Either you're thinking it sucks or it's totally broken. Hah! You ain't seen nothing yet. In the upper areas of deck design it's become viable but perhaps not popular to make a no character deck. Using discard effects (Blackmoor Estates, for example) as the win condition, a player using an extreme abundance of removal effects (think Forced Entry, Playing with Fire, Lair of the Deep Ones) can prevent his opponent from getting characters in play to win stories. The real kicker is the amount of "dead" cards you usually possess in your deck. All of the removal effects you included don't do anything if your opponent doesn't have characters. So what to do?
R&D believes in an "open" deck design philosophy. This means that we don't, through design and development, try to "force" our players into a certain style of play. Our game has multiple avenues to victory, and if our players want to at least try to do something different we aren't going to drop the hammer on that because of our own personal philosophy. That said, it is also important to balance these factors, or at least have a counter available in the environment in the event (pardon the pun) that player relies too heavily on one aspect of the game. Checks and balances. Simple design theory. Words to live by. Oh yeah, and while Eldritch has a ton of cool events that can be brought back through draining an additional domain, watch out. You might just find yourself out of cards.
Join me next week for an all new Lang Codex featuring Eldritch Edition cards!
6/9/2005Steadfast Loyaltyby Casey Galvan
Welcome back to the Eldritch spoilers! Boy we are busy here in R&D but never fear I didn't forget my promise. Last week we took a look at Nyarlathotep. It was spoiled that the faction specific versions all have abilities and key off of Rituals. What are Rituals you ask? Let's take a look!
For all Occasions
Today's card in many ways is a "bomb". In an earlier article I spoke that in Eldritch we are busting the "soft" cap of actions by various effects that add domains. Not to be outdone, today's card is a perfect example why you might want to have extra domains. Theoretically, you can pay 1 to reduce all your Cthulhu faction cards by 2 until the end of the phase. Oh yeah, it also keys off the Avatars of Nyarlathotep!
Don't be fooled, however. While this card is most useful in the Operations phase, there are plenty of other rituals (faction specific and neutral) that are designed to work during other phases. How about a Hastur Ritual that discards cards off the top of your opponent's deck, then drain a domain to return it to your hand? Discard is back folks, but that's another article. But you gotta forgive me, because this is so much cool stuff to talk about!
My point is, without adding a lot of cumbersome rules text R&D managed to create this cool new subtype that has small rules, but big implications in the meta game. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I can't even begin to imagine all the cool combos our players will find for these cards, but you won't have to wait long before the big release!
New Keyword, Similar Taste
I'm sure many of you are asking, "What's the deal with the faction symbols in the title text?" Good question. But first, a little back-story. R&D has few if any regrets about the Arkham Edition Block. That said, if we had to do it all over again perhaps the Ancient Ones wouldn't be Loyal. Loyal is a great mechanic in theory, it prevents faction splashing and cherry picking, to ensure that a player can't easily include the best of each faction to create the "ultimate" deck.
But stepping back for a moment the inherent resource mechanic pretty much prevents that. You see, once you start making decks that have more than 3 factions it's really a crap shoot if you'll draw enough cards to resource and play the cards you need. Loyal was necessary in Arkham, as a balance and safety issue, and very much a flavor issue. But we felt with all the positive things it brought, it was, in the end, much too restrictive.
It really has to do with scaling. A Loyal, 2-3 cost card is tough, but doable in a multi faction deck. 5 or more cost? Yikes. That's some serious dedication. And with the way the Call of Cthulhu resource system works, it's usually not worth it. In Eldritch, we wanted to redo this mechanic. There are many powerful cards that are...
Steadfast
Introducing Eldritch Edition's new Loyal mechanic: Steadfast! It's pretty simple. In order to play a Steadfast card you must have a combined number of resources on any number of domains you control that match the symbols in the card's text. So using today's card as an example, you must have 3 Cthulhu faction resources on any number of domains you control. They don't have to be all on the same domain, just controlling 3 is enough. While today's card has 0 cost, unless you have at least 3 Cthulhu resources on any number of domains you control, you can't play it.
The cool part is its extremely intuitive and easy to adapt to. We could have added a new keyword to the actual card text (ex. Steadfast 2) but it's much easier, and we found in our testing that it is also clearer to represent this visually in the card's title. All while Steadfast cards don't exactly have the same restriction, it prevents a lot of splashing without having to put all resources on one domain like Loyal did.
All in all I'm extremely pleased with the way things turned out. That's all the time I have for today, but we're counting down the release of Eldritch and in the final week before release I'll be releasing a spoiler each day before the official release date! Join me next week for an all new Codex when we explore some of the older deck types that will feel brand new again when Eldritch hits stores!
5/29/2005The Messengerby Casey Galvan
Welcome back to the Lang Codex! As we all know, Eldritch is coming, and it's gonna be big. We'll be posting an official release date in the coming days, so be on the lookout. In the meantime, let's get back to spoiler week! Last week's article featured the brand new Great Old One, Shub. She promises to make a huge impact on the game - but enough about that. Let's look at the teaser I alluded to last week. Can you guess what it is?
Crawling Chaos
Eldritch Edition is the most ambitious set to date, and for good reason. With my earlier articles showcasing some of the "main" characters in the storyline, including Norman Blackwood Jr., new Ancient evils and gods (including Shub-Niggurath), and a new area of design space focusing on resources, let's look at today's card.
That's right, folks. He's here in Eldritch, and the game will never be the same. When designing something as big as Nyarlathotep (N-tep for short), we wanted him to certainly make an impact, but also be true to the stories. You see, N-tep is a powerful entity, and can grant you unimaginable power. A creature of many forms, he is also fickle, and if you're not careful he will switch sides and join your opponent! But stepping away from the flavor aspect, let's look at it from a mechanics standpoint. Most N-tep cards are slightly better mathematically than most characters with similar cost/skill. However, there's always a catch, and he can easily become a tool for your opponent to abuse.
An interesting note: N-tep cards are also faction-specific. In other words, each faction gets a little piece of the puzzle that fits quite well together with the right neutral version.
We were careful to add the right amount of cards to the pool that really brought N-tep into his own, and not in the way you might expect. Players will get rewarded for playing with him, and I'm sure have a good time trying to figure out all of the cool combos that work with other Eldritch Edition cards. In the big picture sense, N-tep is absolutely a huge part of this set. While he (it?) won't have the same polarizing effect that dropping an Ancient One might have, there are many ways he fits almost seamlessly into most Eldritch decks. Synergy is what makes this set so fun. With so many ways to combo cards and apply them, I doubt you'll see the same two N-tep-themed decks in a tournament. But more on that later. Let's go a little bit into synergy.
The "Island" Theory
Sometimes, in other games, you'll find an interesting quandary. A game will introduce new mechanics and themes, but they don't combo well together. Let me elaborate. I like to think of this as "island mechanics." While cool and sometimes interesting, they are an island unto themselves, lacking the necessary synergy that makes for a new experience. Eric likes to call this "randomly interesting." This simply means they don't seem to follow a plan. Sure, new mechanic A is sweet. Mechanic B is cool too. But neither works well together, and unfortunately there isn't enough of either mechanic in this expansion to make a viable deck. That leaves players waiting for the next expansion to (hopefully) follow up on unfinished business.
This is extremely frustrating for players. Why bother getting new cards when you know that the metagame won't really change? You know you just have to invest in the "staple" rares to upgrade your existing decks and compete with everyone else. Well, I got news folks - not in the Call of Cthulhu CCG.
In earlier articles and in fan chats, Eric and I always make it a point to ensure quality game play is derived from creativity and skill, not the number of rares you have. Anyway, let me get off my tangent. What does this have to do with Eldritch Edition? I'm glad you asked!
Next week's article is going to showcase another aspect of Eldritch that works quite well with our N-tep cards today. This isn't a new rule, mechanic or theme: simply a new subtype. Simple? Yes. Boring? No way. Join me next week for an all-new Codex, when we'll look at Ritual cards that promise to shake up the environment in new and exciting ways!
5/23/2005Eldritch Edition Ancient Onesby Casey Galvan
Hello from sunny Minnesota! For the last couple of weeks we've discussed one of Eldritch Edition's big new mechanics, "Transient." As I alluded to last week, Eldritch Edition promises to add so much cool new stuff to the Call of Cthulhu collectible card game, I'm not sure I'll even get a chance to spoil it all before it's released in late June. But before we look too far in the future, let's get back to today's card. And this one is gonna be cool!
That Fine Line
One of the hot topics of discussion around R&D always seems to be "theme vs. mechanics." Now, don't get me wrong - I firmly believe in designing and developing games mechanics first, then theme. That being said, there are times when theme is more important. In relation to the Call of Cthulhu collectible card game, I believe our creative team does an excellent job staying true (as possible) to the subject matter, while trying to appease Eric and I when we work on brand-new sets.
Today's card is a marriage between the two. From the start of Eldritch development, R&D planned on introducing new versions of the Great Old Ones (known as GOOs, or Ancient Ones). The trick is, of course, how did we want to do it? Arkham Edition's GOOs were mainly designed top-down. In other words, most of them were not viable in most decks, but had the sort of thematic abilities that you would expect them to have. Similarly, the Unspeakable Tales GOOs were also quite thematic, but were a little more practical. In Eldritch Edition, these guys really come into their own.
Practical Mechanics vol. 2
From a thematic and gameplay standpoint, if you play an Ancient One character, it should mean something big. As I outlined earlier, that wasn't always the case. We wanted Eldritch Edition GOOs to be eye-catching, almost polarizing. Once an Ancient One hit the table, the game environment should focus on it, and your opponent will have to adjust his or her strategy. "Wow, 10 cost? 10 skill?" These guys are huge, no doubt.
GOOs should be like that. I'm not suggesting that once you get one in play, it should function as a "get out of jail free" card, or an "auto-win," if you will. What I am suggesting, is that the card is an accurate representation of Call of Cthulhu story themes.
Now that we've gotten the theme out of the way, the next logical step would be to flesh it out with cool mechanics. Remember, this style of design is often known as "top-down," and usually R&D does "bottom-up" (i.e. mechanics first, then theme). First off, cost 10 is eye-catching, but close to impractical from a gameplay standpoint.
How do we address this? How about adding in another "flavor" theme that works well mechanically? This GOO (each GOO has a similar trigger) has its cost reduced by half, if you control a certain number of cultists. The more cultists that gather to "summon" the ancient evil, the easier it is to get it into play. Pretty neat, if you ask me. But having a big invulnerable 10-skill character wasn't enough. Hmmmm. How about a cool global theme that would shake up the environment and provide large swings?
The main difference between the Eldritch GOOs and their Arkham block counterparts are their global one-shot effects. But believe me, don't take that as a sign of weakness. There are some really cool effects that each GOO is packing, and they should provide some new deck archetypes that nobody has seen before.
But don't take my word for it. You'll see them soon enough, when Eldritch Edition is released this June! Thanks for joining us for this week's Codex. I hope I provided some insight into the delicate balance between theme and mechanics that all CCGs have to consider at one point or another. Join me next week for an all-new Codex featuring a unique character with over 10 versions in Eldritch Edition alone!
5/19/2005Benefactorsby Casey Galvan
If you joined us last week, we unveiled a brand-new mechanic that promises to change the game forever! Not to be outdone, this week I'll be showcasing something brand-new, but with strong ties to the new Transient keyword.
Themes Matter
Eldritch Edition has plenty of new things for players to sink their teeth into, but I'd also like to think that this set will be taking care of "unfinished business." Much like the follow-up to environment cards we did in Forbidden Relics, R&D fleshed out what we started in Unspeakable Tales. In that spirit, Eldritch will be following up on some themes from Arkham that had near-endless potential and will be more fully explored in Eldritch Edition - but with a distinctly different flavor that should surprise and excite most players.
Today's card is an attempt to fundamentally alter the rules by which the Call of Cthulhu CCG was designed. How's that for exciting?
The Cap
Since the beginning, one of the founding principals for deckbuilding and balance has been the 3-action "soft" cap. The soft cap implies that each player is limited to theoretically 3 actions per turn, no more and no less. Through card effects (Crooked Manse, Eldritch Nexus) players were able to "break" the cap. But this wasn't really a practical application. Both cards mentioned above are not very effective when you consider the possibility of breaking the cap and how best to take advantage.
R&D was dedicated to finding a way to follow up on this idea that was briefly touched on in the Arkham block. Problem was, it's really a case of feast or famine. How to create an effect that would be useful, but not broken? Attempting to alter the cap was risky business, for sure. The best course of action, it was determined, was to give the player options. After all, what the card might lack in power it would make up for in versatility. Enter the Benefactor.
"Benefactor" characters in Eldritch Edition appear in each faction with similar abilities. You need a resource boost? Something out quicker than normal? No problem, these guys can be used as Transient resources in a snap. Mid-game, need a character to block? Get some success tokens? Play them. Sure, they aren't the best 3 cost characters available, but sometimes you just need one more character to achieve victory. And last but certainly not least, mid to late game, do you need an extra resource to fuel that On the Lam, or activate a card's ability more than 3 times? Then these are the guys for you.
With the Benefactors, and Eldritch in general, its all about the options. And options is what makes this game so fun. I feel a story coming on...
The Decision Tree
From the start, Call of Cthulhu was based on sound principles of design. Virtually every step of the way, players have important choices to make. This was incorporated into the mechanics, and the next logical step was to include this in the cards themselves. I guess you could say the order in which you play your cards would be the gameplay, but in Eldritch, how you use the cards (as a transient resource, character or other) is just as important.
Certain cards in Eldritch are not necessarily as powerful as past cards, but in any way these cards lack in power, they more than make up for this in their situational uses. So will this make the game tougher? Will it make it take a bit longer to make your choices? Yes and yes. Will this make it more fun and interesting? You bet.
With all this talk about the new Transient keyword, don't think for a second that Eldritch is a one-trick pony! Join me next week for an all-new Codex filled with Eldritch Edition spoilers. We'll be looking at a group of old friends from Arkham that get the royal treatment, and should promise to change the way you think about expensive characters!
5/10/2005Transienceby Casey Galvan
Welcome back to the Monday Edition of the Lang Codex! As I alluded to earlier, today's article will be the first part in a series of articles featuring some of the brand-new mechanics Eldritch Edition has to offer! It was a tough choice, I'll admit - there are so many cool new things to talk about! Let's do something that is game-changing yet very intuitive - and it should be seamlessly integrated in the right deck.
Speed Kills
One of the goals R&D had when designing/developing Eldritch Edition was to encourage the use of expensive cards. Does this mean speeding up the game? The game is quite quick already. Time and time again, it's been proven that most cost 4 or higher cards don't see competitive play. I have no doubt in casual play that most cards available are included in one deck or another. But the trick is, of course, how do we translate that to the metagame?
Most factions use a cost curve (I explained this in an earlier Codex) that utilizes the most efficient characters and events at the right time. Since domains can't be "combined" to pay for cards, you must be very mindful of the cost curve your deck is using. If you include too many characters that cost 4 or more, then you're not able to use some of the better event and support cards. It's a difficult balance when creating the right deck, but unless you're using resource acceleration, chances are you won't be using too many expensive cards.
What if Eldritch could introduce a new keyword that could theoretically make decks filled with expensive cards tourney-worthy? With all this in mind, Eldritch Edition offers a brand-new mechanic that has never been seen before, and uses an area of design space that has not been touched. Introducing the new keyword: Transient!
How does it work?
So what does Transient do exactly? For starters, the Transient keyword only works while the card is a resource. So, using today's card as an example, if the card isn't a resource, you don't have to worry about the keyword. Now, if the card is a resource, here is how Transient works: one Transient resource counts as 2 resources when drained. So, if you drain a domain with 2 Transient resources attached, then that domain could be used to pay for a card with cost 4 or lower. When a domain that has Transient resources attached is drained for any reason, all Transient resources are destroyed.
Now I know many of you may be saying to yourselves, "Hey, but doesn't that help weenie decks?" Well, yes and no. Certainly, Transient resources can potentially speed up the game and help these type of decks. But, it should also help decks that have a more expensive cost curve. The strength in many of these "rush" decks is the ability to swarm the board and win enough stories early, so when an expensive character does hit the table, it usually won't matter. Now you can play some of these expensive characters earlier to slow the tempo down a bit and give your GOOs a chance to shine. This should make things quite interesting in the coming months, and I can't wait to see what happens!
Next week, we'll tackle another area of design space, along with the implications that the Transient keyword will have in the new set, and the future of the Call of Cthulhu CCG!
5/3/2005Heroes and Villainsby Casey Galvan
Hey all! If you joined us last week we talked a little bit about Eldritch Edition and I also posted a teaser image of a new card. Can you guess who he is? Anyway, this week as promised, we'll start the official Eldritch spoilers, leading up until the big release in June! I had a lot to choose from (it is a base set after all) but in the end I choose something that will surely see play but encourage thematic and creative deckbuilding.
Pick a side
One of the beautiful things about the Call of Cthulhu collectible card game is the sheer amount of diversity available to a player when building a deck. Indeed, there are many paths you may travel when creating something to put the hurt on your opponent. Personally, I love the fact you can combine any faction and create these unlikely alliances in order to win. That being said, there are a good amount of players out there who enjoy more of a thematic approach.
Professor Armitage helping Yog-Sothoth? Bah. Cthulhu and the Agency teaming up? Nah. For these type of players, R&D was careful to implement a way for them to make a thematic deck, yet still be viable in a tournament-level environment. Certainly there are some interesting combinations that I've seen with Heroic- and Villainous-based decks, and Eldritch only expands on this theme. You can expect these guys to be packing some serious heat this time around.
There are other new themes that work quite well with Arkham block deck types, and of course there are some new things to chew on as well. Without a doubt, Heroic and Villainous decks got the royal treatment. You can expect some very cool things that key off other seldom-used subtypes in the near future as well...
Theme Matters
When playing the CCG, our goal is to provide the best playing experience possible. This encompasses theme, deckbuilding, and overall interaction between players. Eldritch has got more than enough to satisfy even the most serious of players. Maybe I'm getting soft, but R&D focused quite a bit on theme this time around. Our job was to create a mood and setting in Eldritch (and the game in general). This is one of the big reasons why playing the game is so darn cool. I mean, who wouldn't want to grab a shotgun and go shoggoth hunting? How 'bout driving your favorite mobsters insane? Yep, it's all possible, and in Eldritch, quite playable too.
This week's article was a bit shorter than usual, but for good reason. Next week's article is a two-parter that will showcase of Eldritch Edition's big new mechanics, which will truly change the face of the game forever!
4/28/2005Eldritch Edition Warm-Upby Casey Galvan
Hello again, fellow Servitors! We've sent out all the kits, and things are in place as we await the start of the Championship Season. It is really exciting and always interesting to see what deck types emerge as the top dog, what deck is all hype, and all the surprises in between! With May right around the corner, it's hard to believe that we have a little less than two months before Eldritch Edition hits stores! That's right folks, Call of Cthulhu is going places it's never gone before - new and exciting places with a distinct Egyptian flavor.
The Players
Some of the major players in the story make an appearance this time around: you can expect Norman Blackwood Jr. (he is a doozy!) as well as the society hostess Victoria Glasser. Not only that, but you can expect some of your favorite world-devouring, reality-bending, insanity-driving Ancient Ones and Elder Gods to make an appearance. We've learned a lot since the Arkham Edition block, and I can guarantee these guys will see play. Expect some of these guys to be game-defining, and to have extremely powerful global abilities. Don't worry, I'll spoil them soon enough! :)
What would Eldritch Edition be without one of the Cthulhu Mythos's most powerful/horrifying characters, Nyarlathotep? Nyarlathotep makes a big splash into the Call of Cthulhu CCG, providing powerful effects, but true to his nature, he can be quite fickle, creating an interesting game mechanic. As many of us know, he is known as having over 1000 avatars in which he can take form. In Eldritch, you can expect something similar with an interesting twist.
Shifting the Balance
Many of our players would agree that there is a faction hierarchy. Faction A is the most powerful, while faction B is the least. We don't believe in "nerfing" one faction (although certain errata may take place) but we do give a faction a little boost now and again to make sure it is a viable tournament choice. Expect things to be shaken up this time around, and some new guys to get their time in the sun. I think you'll be surprised with a couple new abilities each faction will get, and interesting twists on the old ones.
A new base set means many things, including new mechanics and keywords. R&D was very careful to introduce this in delicate ways, to avoid making Call of Cthulhu "clunky." I think everyone will be quite pleased how each mechanic and keyword adds a lot of depth, but can be quite seamlessly introduced into the environment. I'll be spoiling these new mechanics in a couple weeks, so stay tuned!
That's all the time I have, folks. Don't worry, we'll be starting the spoilers next week! I'll leave you with a teaser image of one of the new cards from Eldritch Edition. Join me next week, when we kick off the spoilers in a big way!
