2005 Lang Codex Archive

4/21/2005FAQs and Youby Casey Galvan

Welcome back to another week of the Codex! If you joined us last week, we talked a little bit about the design and development process we use to create new sets. I've said many times before that R&D always tries to push the envelope and make each set as exciting, innovative and, most importantly, as fun as possible. On the flip side, the price for doing this is usually adding in a new keyword or ability, which translates into a need for a new FAQ. This week I just wanted to go over what many players are talking about recently: that is, of course, the addition of a brand new FAQ on the heels of Forbidden Relics.

Maintaining a Balance
While R&D isn't "out to get" one particular card or deck, we do keep a regularly updated watch list. This list helps us keep the environment as open as possible. That doesn't mean that if there is a dominant deck type or card we'll drop the hammer. No, rather we try to first establish if the card creates a real problem, and if that problem warrants swift action. We always back up errata with hard facts, we certainly would not want to damage the value of a deck or card on pure theory and conjecture.

Besides countless hours of in-house playtesting, I try to interact with the player base locally when I can and play these "killer" decks and gauge their reaction, as well as my own. I remember when Eric and I went to a local game store to try out a new Artifact deck from Forbidden Relics which I thought may have a couple broken cards. The end result was: the deck was powerful, yes. Broken? No. Of course that wasn't the only test it went through, but this was just a small example of what we try to avoid at all costs: errata. Even if the deck won every game (which it didn't) it would have provided useful information that would we use to design future sets. Rest assured, we don't decide to errata or ban anything based on just a few games of playtesting.

Some cards may go unchecked for a month or two in an effort to see if there is a real problem, an established pattern, or simply a powerful metagame-defining card that some players are simply unhappy about. On that note, we try to accommodate as many people as possible. Needless to say, we can't please everyone. R&D will at all times try to avoid heavy-handed errata that can cause instability in the environment, especially in light of the fact that there is a major series of tournaments in May. As a player, I would hate to have a deck constructed for a major tournament, only for it to become obsolete. As a developer, I realize that taking advantage of certain overpowered cards means the game is not working as intended, and this should be fixed to fit in line with the "big picture."

Small Errata, Large Events
As I said earlier, we tend to avoid a lot of errata before a large event, but sometimes it cannot be avoided. Issues can arise which absolutely have to be addressed immediately. FAQ 1.5 was created to clarify many rules questions regarding overpay and triggered effects, and I can say with confidence that many of these issues were clarified, and will help make the jobs of the servitors running the championships in May (as well as any local event) much easier.

This isn't always the case, but the price for breaking new ground in a CCG may sometimes lead to errata, clarifications and even banning. This is the rare exception in CoC and is absolutely not the rule. As the game itself continues to grow more and more, cards will interact with the existing card pool in potentially negative ways, and so we will continue to be vigilant. Keeping in mind that we all still have the convention season to enjoy, R&D will continue to maintain a regular FAQ, keeping the best interests of our players and the metagame in mind.

Well, that's all the time I have this week. I hope this shed a little light on the reasons we create and maintain an FAQ. Join me next week when we'll discuss a little bit about Eldritch Edition!

4/12/2005The Processby Casey Galvan

Hello again, everyone! Things are busy as usual around the office, and that's good news for CoC fans out there! What do I mean? Well, that means there are a ton of new things to talk about (not to mention a new base set in August!). This week we'll talk a little bit about the R&D process and give everyone a little glimpse of what we do to make the horrifying world of CoC a reality. First off, I'd just like to say how much I'm enjoying Forbidden Relics! As part of the R&D team we have to adjust our mindset to the "big picture" - in other words, sets are done for months before they hit stores, and to us, they're old news, since we've moved on to the new project.

With that in mind, even I still get that feeling of excitement opening up each pack, looking over each card that I may have forgotten about and trying to come up with cool ideas. It is a tough balance, and I think our creative team does an excellent job of bringing a lot of flavor to balance out the cold math, statistics and development I do.

In the beginning...
Eric gives me the file of a new set before the playtesters see it. From there I write down my own development notes, calculate some statistics (e.g. is card A is this set mathematically better than card B from Arkham?) and generally get a "feel" for the set. Eric has a plan for each set: what goals we want to accomplish, what kind of cool mechanics that will excite our players and, as always, what will shake up the metagame?

While I'm working on development, we hand the file off to the creative team (Pat Harrigan and Darrell Hardy) who go through the process of adding Cthulhu-esque titles and flavor text. Not only that, but we try to consult with them to make sure that many of the cards have abilities that are somewhat similar from what you may have read or would expect.

Here's a little fact: our creative team has a huge backstory that we kicked off with Arkham Edition and continues in Eldritch Edition. If you've been reading parts of the story (primarily in the cards' flavor text), you can look forward to a few of the "main" characters (such as Norman Blackwood, Jr.) to make an appearance in Eldritch Edition!

Last and certainly not least, we have our art director assign some of the best artists to the cards.

Then there were two
Getting back to the development side of things, it is kind of a funny situation in the office. Things are all business when I playtest with the team. It sounds a little something like this: "My R114 commits to Story Card F3, and I'll play U21." "OK. I'll play C2 in combo with R92." "Hmm." Games don't last long before we decide if we have an issue. It is usually a numbers game: reduce a cost by 1, increase by 1, move this event card to the operations phase, that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, once we've cleaned things up on this end, we hand a less rough version of the document to our newly-minted playtesters. Their job is, obviously, to look for problems, but just as importantly, we want them to see if any of our wording is unclear. Too much jargon and it tends to scare away potential players; too little, or even worse, unclear text, leads to errata and vague interpretation.

The home stretch
When it's all said and done, it's my job to actually "create" the set, by putting each file together, making the appropriate edits, weighing the playtest comments as well as my own, and writing a rules document, when applicable. Whew! We're still not done, as we still have a final review process where our editors go over everything with a fine-tooth comb - and it's a good thing, because I'm a pretty poor speller. Next week I'm going to try to convince one our creative team guys to write a Codex, since judging from the community chat we hosted a couple of weeks ago, many people are curious to hear more about the story. Not only that, but stay tuned for the next couple of weeks, when we'll be looking at some Eldritch teasers and spoilers!

3/14/2005Priming the Pumpby Casey Galvan

Hello again, everyone! Last week we got a chance to look at Travis Hoffman's very own Lang Codex. Good job to Travis and everyone who sent in a submission. For those of you who didn't win, don't worry; we plan on having these types of contests again, and we wish you the best of luck next time!

OK, what to talk about? If you are one of the lucky few to get your Forbidden Relics cards this past weekend you know that there are some really cool cards there. Today, I'm going to spoil a couple more cards for our players who aren't quite as lucky to get their cards yet. (But Forbidden Relics has shipped!) So don't worry, you'll be terrorizing your local tournament scene soon enough.

Go with the Flow
One of the intriguing differences between A Game of Thrones and Call of Cthulhu is how each game "flows." What do I mean exactly? In an earlier article I explored a new mechanic that was designed to bring a player back into the game once they had lost tempo. In that respect, Call of Cthulhu is much more tempo-based. If you have the flow, and dictate the pace of the game, you will most likely win. In the Call of Cthulhu CCG, games usually go quite quickly and "rush" deck types can win more than their fair share against more control-oriented deck types, hence the importance of tempo and flow. I've found that once you've gone on the defensive, you're in big trouble.

A Game of Thrones is much more control-oriented. I'm not suggesting that only control decks win. Certainly not. However, since it is slightly more control-oriented, "rush" decks and tempo don't necessarily mean quite as much. (With the advent of the plot deck a player can make a comeback at any time.) Plot decks change the face of the playing field each turn, so you might be down this turn, but next turn that game could theoretically be reset.

Now that I've explained the difference in games, let me explain why I chose these cards today. In the Call of Cthulhu CCG and most tempo- and/or flow-based games, "pump" cards matter. More so than in many CCGs today, pump cards allow you to dictate the pace of the game and turn the tide at a key moment.

Substance over Style
While pump cards aren't quite as flashy (well, they are in Forbidden Relics!) as some of the bread-and-butter event cards such as Forced Entry or Sacrificial Offering, I'm not too worried. Character removal is always going to be important, but I will make the argument in certain cases that you usually trade 1/1 each time you use a non-recurring removal card such as Forced Entry. That isn't technically net gain and, all things being equal, you haven't changed tempo. If you were winning before, you're still winning, and if you're losing, chances are you will still be losing now. Most removal cards have a certain "capture radius" where once you hit a certain point, it becomes less and less useful.

OK, I may not have convinced you. But as I've said, pump cards aren't removal in any sense. But pump cards in many cases provide what most removal cards can't: tempo change. The stigma with many of the pump cards stems from early sets, where they just lacked that certain "punchiness" that made them playable. All the convincing in the world won't do much good for Unnatural Stealth or Rite of the Broken Stone.

The Best of Both Worlds
While it may take some time for many players to warm up to pump cards, with the new Overpay mechanic you can bet that these will see play. On its own you're getting a decent pump card, overpay slightly and forget out it! Call of Cthulhu games will see some massive tempo changes with the introduction of Forbidden Relics, that I can promise.

Perhaps I've changed a couple minds about some of our pump cards, maybe not. Either way, hopefully you'll look at things a little differently when you crack open your next pack of Call of Cthulhu!

I hope everyone enjoys Forbidden Relics - stay tuned for more official new updates regarding National Championships and other exciting Call of Cthulhu CCG news in the coming weeks. Join me next week for an all-new Codex!

3/11/2005You've Really Got a Hold On Me...by Travis Hoffman (Forbidden Relics giveaway winner)

One of the hallmarks of the Call of Cthulhu CCG are the struggles. You struggle against the mysteries of the unknown, you struggle against mounting opposition, and you struggle to keep your resources around. Each of these struggles is hard-fought, and because of this, characters tend to have a hard time sticking around before being driven insane and/or shuffled off to the discard pile. Today I'm going to talk a bit about the struggle to include attachments in a Cthulhu deck.

Two birds, one shotgun
Support cards have a hard run in Call of Cthulhu, and attachments even more so. Despite their low cost and potent effect, they remain one of the hardest card subsets to work into a deck. Why? It's a question of resource management. In order to use an attachment, you first need an eligible target in play, and the attachment is subject to all the vulnerabilities of the attached card (e.g. destruction, exhaustion, etc.). So why use them at all? Well, they do tend to be a bit more potent than non-attachment cards.

Pound for pound, attachment cards tend to be very low cost for their effect, with the restriction that you need to play them on another card. Essentially, you're trading potency for additional vulnerability. For example, if you slap a Sniper Rifle on one of your characters, you've got a renewable source of direct wounding. Add an Alhazred Lamp, and you gain a potent boost in icon struggles. However, in addition to worrying about cards that destroy support cards or attachments, you now have to watch out for the attached character as well; and with the number of effects that wound, destroy, cause insanity, exhaust, blank, and return to hand, attachments have a hard time staying in play.

Enter the Mi-Go Brain Case - an attachment where you actually want your opponent to deal with the vulnerable character. An attachment where you can take advantage of that extra vulnerability. The Brain Case fits that bill quite nicely.

But what if your opponent decides not to deal with the Brain Case? Well, it's not always that easy. At its heart, Cthulhu is an interactive game. Send your Brain Cased Mi-Go Scout in to defend against those tommygun-wielding Blackwood Associate, and when the lead stops flying, you've got two new Scouts ready to do your nefarious bidding (not to mention two Investigation icons added to each Mi-Go instead of 1). Or go the direct route, and off them yourself.

Two is better than one
As mentioned in the previous column, Forbidden Relics aims to allow the down players to recover. Adding a Brain Case to that arsenal means that nowadays it may even be beneficial to be on the downswing, at least temporarily. You lose a bit of initial tempo in exchange for a large upswing later on.

And that's a fact
Also previously mentioned was that one of the themes of Forbidden Relics are the Artifacts (note: column contains 40% recycled material). The Brain Case is not only non-unique, but easily splashable in any deck using the Shub-Niggurath faction. When combined with Artifact-dependent effects (like the previously-spoiled Bone Pipes of Madness), there's yet another incentive to remove the Brain Case, even at the expense of seeing two more characters enter play.

Join us next week, when we return to your regular columnists.

- by Travis Hoffman, Minor Servitor

3/9/2005Forbidden Relics spoiler weekby Casey Galvan

Welcome back to Forbidden Relics spoiler week. With Forbidden Relics right around the corner, I took a little break from reading all the submissions that were sent (I received almost 100 articles!) to spoil some more goodness from the new set.

Budget Bombs
It had occurred to me that the recent couple of spoiler articles featured only rare cards! While I'm sure many of our players can appreciate some rare goodness from time to time, I know that not all card players have the budget to fill their decks with rares. In that respect I think Call of Cthulhu does quite well. Many of the best and faction-defining cards ("bombs") are on the common and uncommon level!

A couple weeks ago I did a "mailbag" article for our sister game, A Game of Thrones. Many of the players over there asked excellent questions. One of the questions in particular had to do with why FFG makes certain cards rare, and to that effect, what is our thought process? Without going into too much jargon, we feel that rare cards are the last specialized piece of a puzzle. Rare cards fill specific needs. Rare cards can be "bombs" or "staple" cards, but we tend to avoid that when possible. For example, since I'm a full-time developer and sometime designer of both games, I have to keep up on the current metagame. In that regard I have roughly 6-7 decks for each game. Most of my best decks in Call of Cthulhu usually have less than 8 rare cards. My best deck right now has zero rare cards (but 4 copies of a card from the Arkham Edition premium starter.) FFG cares deeply about its player base, and having been in that position before, I can say that we will never force players to buy rare cards to be competitive. I'd be lying if I said sometimes it wasn't a business choice, but overall you'll notice that decks of uncommons and commons can still compete.

Insanity at the right price
Getting back on topic, let's look at today's card. You'll notice that he takes advantage of the "overpay" mechanic that I explained in an earlier Codex. If you're unfamiliar, to overpay you simply drain a domain with more resources attached than the cost of the card. In this case, if you drain a domain with 4 or more resources attached, you've overpaid.

Hastur is a faction with many themes, and one of their most "flavorful" themes is, of course, insanity. Insanity is one of the central themes in the Call of Cthulhu CCG, but for more than just flavor. Mechanically speaking, it seems quite powerful. You get character and attachment removal, plus you slow that character down for two turns. Looking a bit deeper, interesting things happen in the metagame when you play too much insanity. Other Mythos-based decks start popping up, and that central strategy is rendered mainly useless. Our problem was, how do we get more players to explore these type of themes when many times these cards could be dead weight, and therefore cause a loss?

In Forbidden Relics we aim to flesh out these types of "flavor" themes in a practical way. Some cards such as The King in Yellow are extremely effective against the right deck, but useless in others. With cards like Bearer of the Yellow Sign, we tried to get as much versatility (having the option to "overpay") but also make a card that could be used to win story cards. Many other factions have similar mechanics that provide you with solid choices and fewer "dead" cards. That doesn't mean that these will replace what you've been using, but it might give you an option where none existed before. Players may have thought some of these "flavor" themes didn't matter, but in Forbidden Relics, think again!

Join me next week when I post the winner's article and conclude the "win it before you can buy it" contest!

2/28/2005Forbidden Relics giveaway

If you tuned in last week, we caught a glimpse of the new "catch up" mechanics in Forbidden Relics. This week as promised, FFG is holding a "Win it before you can buy it" contest! That's right, follow the rules and read the instructions for your chance to win a booster box display of Forbidden Relics before it hits stores in March!

When deciding on what type of contest we should have, there were so many tough decisions to make. Our resident Call of Cthulhu experts Pat Harrigan and Darrell Hardy have vast knowledge of Cthulhu lore, so perhaps a trivia article? Nah, too mundane. Hmm how about some sort of puzzle article? Too abstract and random. That's when it came to me!

For the Servitors, by the Servitors
This week the Lang Codex will be part spoiler, part contest. I'm posting one new image from Forbidden Relics. You, the Servitors and Investigators are charged with writing your own Lang Codex.

Your own Codex must be about this particular image. Feel free to write about why the card is good for the metagame, why it hurts the metagame... heck, you can even write about how you like or dislike the art! Be creative and have fun with it. The best article will be chosen by me, Elder Servitor Casey Galvan. The winner will be informed via email that they have won a display of Forbidden Relics and have their article posted on the website next week for all to see and enjoy.

Remember, my fellow Servitors, to include your name so you can receive proper credit. Your article can be any size, but the average size of the Lang Codex is encouraged. All submissions must be received by noon on Monday, March 7th. The winner's article will be posted on the site Friday, March 12th. FFG will contact the winner with more details. Good luck, and may the best star-spawned horror win!

2/22/2005Down but Not Outby Casey Galvan

Hello, fellow servitors! Earlier this week we got a chance to look at some of the art in Forbidden Relics, and discuss a little Call of Cthulhu history of undercosted and overpowered characters. As promised, today I'm going to have something really juicy to look at, and that is of course a new mechanic, so to speak.

Down but Not Out
One of issues with Call of Chtulhu is that, once you're down, you're usually out. What do I mean? As many players can attest to, character advantage is almost as important as card advantage, which to say, extremely important. Once you get in that "race" situation, where your opponent can drop more characters per turn and/or remove yours, you're in trouble, and it's usually time to say, "Good game," and scoop.

But introduce Forbidden Relics, and it's a whole new ballgame. As usual, not all cards are created equal, but they may give your opponent something to think about before mindlessly "spitting" out characters each turn, and they may help if you need to get back into the saddle.

Old is New
Getting off topic, I will say that, while some factions get familiar themes we're all accustomed to, many factions get things that are very unique. These aren't always the "obvious" type cards; they require a little subtlety and finesse, but rest assured they are quite powerful when used in the correct fashion.

There are also many cards that fit with my earlier article on Environment cards, which is to say there are many cards you recognize... but different. If you're a fan of the Gate and Key, in my humble opinion they got some extremely cool stuff, along with Miskatonic University. These were the single two factions that really branched out from their normal themes and archetypes and into uncharted territory.

Win it before you can buy it!
This Lang Codex was a little shorter than normal, but for good reason. While I really wanted to spoil some of the new characters, next week's Codex is going to be special. Next week, we're starting an all-new promotion for Call of Cthulhu! Next week's Lang Codex will outline the rules for a new contest, and all of next week players will submit their answers to me. Out of all the submissions with the correct answers, we will randomly choose a person to win a display of Forbidden Relics before it actually hits stores! So stay tuned next week for rules and details, and your chance to win a box of Forbidden Relics before it hits stores in March!

2/15/2005The Art of Cthulhuby Casey Galvan

Hey everyone! As promised this week, we'll take a little break from Artifacts to look at something we all can appreciate: art. You see, Call of Cthulhu is a great game that is based on great source material. You can always tell when an artist really enjoys what he does and what he is creating. Today we are going to look at not only a great piece of art, but a little backstory on what it takes to make the cut.

Not Just Another Pretty Face
Call of Cthulhu has some of the best artwork in the CCG industry. Artists are banging down our door to work on this, not because of the money (which is a factor, I'm sure) but because they share the passion and love for all things Lovecraft, like the rest of us. Art aside, the appeal of Cthulhu is the world itself; many of our players grew up reading Lovecraft or playing the Call of Cthulhu RPG. A lot of this credit goes to Pat Harrigan and Darrell Hardy, our resident Cthulhu experts in the office. They come up with so much material, references, and other invaluable information that many parts of the aesthetic game we enjoy are because of them.

Overpowered? Undercosted
While I wanted to spend this entire article patting myself on the back, I figured that talking a little bit about the new set might be a good idea. A little while back, during the initial design and development process, we wanted to add some exciting cards to the set. However, this can pose a problem. You see, a new set has to provide the player base with many things. First and foremost, it has to have things that appeal to the different player types. Next, we have to have new mechanics and exciting things that nobody has seen before: things that create "buzz" and "hype" and generally make the game fun to play. The last part I guess you could call "miscellaneous." This includes, but is not limited to: randomly interesting cards, silver bullet cards, add-ons to existing but underpowered deck types, and general overpowered/ undercosted cards to boost a faction that is behind the times, so to speak.

The last part doesn't mean that we'll create ridiculously powerful cards that will shoot a faction from worst to first. That is not our goal. What we strive to do is create a balance. Let me elaborate. Anyone who owns Arkham Edition cards knows certain factions just had "better" characters than others. Is anyone going to argue that any Syndicate uncommon character was anywhere near as useful as the uncommon cycle of Hastur characters? I doubt it. Well, Arkham was a great set for many reasons. It certainly established where each faction stood and gave us a great starting point for future expansions. That being said, I can say with confidence there are characters in this set that are really undercosted, and really overpowered, but with an appropriate drawback.

Not every faction receives these type of characters. And not every one of them is rare. However, you will notice a trend that follows these seemingly undercosted and/or overpowered cards: a drawback. Not always so severe, but getting that character at a bargain will have a price, which will make the choices of what to put into a deck even harder. And that, my fellow Servitors, is what makes this game so great.

Join me next week, when we'll look at another new concept from Forbidden Relics, and this one will be a whopper!

2/7/2005Artifactsby Casey Galvan

Welcome back everyone, to spoiler week! As I alluded to earlier, this week we're going to examine the real meat and potatoes of Forbidden Relics, and by that I mean Artifacts. Before I start going into detail, let's look at a little bit of history and progression of our favorite little sanity-losing, tommygun-shooting, tentacle-grabbing CCG.

A New Direction
In the Arkham cycle, CoC was in its "newness" stage, where the players were still trying to find their deckbuilding niche. You know: what works, what doesn't. With the wildly-successful follow-up Unspeakable Tales, you could tell we touched up on many themes and ideas that Arkham may not have fully "fleshed out."

Which brings us to this point, the third expansion for the Call of Cthulhu CCG, Forbidden Relics. While my first article on Environments certainly was about how we wanted to follow up on an old idea, I believe you'll really notice how new and original Forbidden Relics is. Eric really stretched the boundaries and you'll find that there may be things in this set you never thought possible.

Eric had a brilliant idea when we first started working on this set. We take something everyone is familiar with (in this case, support cards) and find a way to create a brand new feeling - a new archetype if you will. In this set there is a lot of synergy with how each card interacts with each other. We even tried to expand deeply on familiar themes, but with a different feeling. And that brings us to how Artifacts came to be. A new subtype and deck to be sure, but no new card type... yet.

Pick your Poison
Taking a look at today's card, you'll notice that on its own, it is quite powerful, but still not exactly jaw-dropping. I choose the bone pipes for a couple of reasons. While this may be one of the "tamer" artifacts, it certainly can very environment-defining - similar to the King in Yellow, but with no activation cost (which is very important because of the 3-action soft cap.)

Each faction receives a 4-cost Artifact that fits well with its own theme. The nice thing is, as you get more Artifact cards into play, the better they all become. On its own, the Bone Pipes may not dominate, but as you get more... things can get nasty.

And don't think 4-cost, faction-specific artifacts are the only type of Artifact cards in the set. Indeed, there are plenty of other faction-specific and neutral Artifacts that make committing to stories - and life in general - a major pain for your opponent. There is such a wide variety of Artifact cards that you can play just about anything you want. Speed investigate? No prob. Super terror? Yawn. Mega-killing skull decks? Next.

Anyway, the sky is truly the limit for Artifact decks. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised that they will be able to play something new, but yet can fit nicely with some of the Arkham Edition and Unspeakable Tales cards.

Join me next week, when we'll look at some of the jaw-dropping, amazing art of this set - and we might even talk about the cards!

2/3/2005Overpayby Casey Galvan

Greetings again, everyone! As promised, we'll kick off week two of our Forbidden Relics spoilers! In last week's article, we examined some updates on the familiar theme of Environment cards. This week, I wanted to take a look at one of the exciting new mechanics that Forbidden Relics has to offer.

Waste not, want not
One of the interesting areas of design space Eric wanted to explore was so simple it was brilliant: how players managed resources. I believe a large part of the Call of Cthulhu CCG's strategy relies heavily on the "curve" system. For the uninitiated, the "curve" is simply a deck design philosophy that maximizes each turn by playing cost-effective cards built on a predetermined ratio or cost curve.

What does this jargon mean? For example, on turn one you want a 1 drop character. Turn two, a 2-drop character. Turn three, a 3-drop character. Turn four... you get the idea. So each subsequent turn you'll effectively be able to play something. The general idea is never to have a "dead" turn where you can't play anything, and especially be able to maximize your potential. After all, what good is dropping a two cost character on turn five when you could afford something better? However, the main difference in CoC is that with three domains, your curve is a little skewed because essentially you have a "soft cap" of three actions per turn.

Now allow me to apply this to the current metagame. Its not a secret that "weenie" decks are pretty powerful in this game. There is little incentive for many decks to go significantly past the three or four resource threshold per domain. Most players know that having two to three domains with three resources each goes a lot farther, usually, than one domain with five or six attached - right? This brings us to one of the exciting new mechanics Forbidden Relics has to offer, "overpay."

New feeling, similar mechanics
How does overpay work? Quite simple, actually. When you pay for more than the printed cost of a card, you've overpaid for it. For example, if you have a domain with 4 resources attached and drain it for a three-cost character, you've overpaid! This is going to shake things up, and make choices a little bit harder, which is always a good thing. Players now have an incentive to resource more than usual, or even stack a ton of resources on one domain. So, getting back to what I said earlier, the "curve" system is pretty important. But sometimes, it's a little rough when you draw that two drop guy on turn six, when its not exactly what you were hoping for. But by introducing our new friend overpay, any card can make an impact at any time. I don't know about you guys, but I like that idea.

Whew! Without all that technical jargon, its plain to see there will be some interesting decks in the coming months. Many of you might wonder why I choose this particular character... ah, good question. Join me next week, when we'll look at the real meat and potatoes of the set, Artifacts.

1/28/2005Environmentsby Casey Galvan

reetings again, everyone! This is Casey with a guest Codex this week of a different sort. There are a lot of things that I wanted to talk about today, but let's start with something I think everyone enjoys: spoilers!

With Forbidden Relics right around the corner, I'll be starting a new series of spoiler articles where I'll show off some of the cool new art and mechanics of the new set. Not only that, but as the set gets closer to official release, Fantasy Flight Games will be sponsoring an official "win it before you can buy it" contest where you, the fans, can win a display of Forbidden Relics before it actually hits stores! This week's article kicks off with not one, but two spoilers for your enjoyment!

That Same Familiar Feeling
Now that many of our players have gotten enough time to fully integrate Unspeakable Tales in their decks, I'm sure everyone is familiar with the new Environment cards. Unfortunately, many of the Environment cards lacked a certain "punchiness" that makes a card exciting. This is something that Eric and I wanted to remedy. With all the potential synergy from Unspeakable Tales, we felt that there was a huge area of design space that wasn't used to its full potential. Thus, a new cycle of Environment cards were born.

While I'm not sure Unspeakable Tales had enough of these Environment cards to make a difference, you'll find that Forbidden Relics gives these guys the royal treatment. I can't say if Environment decks are going to dominate any metas, but I will say they are certainly something that can be played effectively.

Birds of a Feather
Like I said earlier, sometimes when new concepts are introduced in an expansion set it becomes really hard to expand and make them powerful or even completely playable in the tournament format. Even with rigorous playtesting it's hard to say how certain cards will effect the play environment (no pun intended) until players have fully "absorbed" them.

That being said, the second image you'll notice is something that really makes this strategy viable. Previously, if an Environment card was in a deck, it usually was there as a "randomly interesting" card. Starting with Forbidden Relics, you'll really start to notice that some of these undeveloped deck types will really have some bite to them. Cards that work great together and heck, maybe you'll even see a theme deck or two at your next tournament! Environment decks? Completely possible. Deep Ones? Criminals? With anything your mind can come up with in the crazy world of the Mythos, you can bet it might be possible... sooner rather than later.

Join me next week, but I unveil one of the exciting new mechanics in Forbidden Relics!

1/12/2005A Tale of Two Games

Welcome to crossover week! I spent some time thinking of a cool way to kick off the year with my two columns, and decided to try something I haven't done before: something for players of both of our games. Since it is the beginning of the year, and players of both games are knee-deep in just-released expansions (Unspeakable Tales for Cthulhu; A Tourney of Swords for Game of Thrones), I opted against a heavy strategy column or yet another R&D exposition. No, it's time for something different.

And why not get things started with a little story? I've been thinking about doing a column like this for quite awhile, but never bothered. For those of you who are not interested in reading a story, please feel free to skip this week's column ' but I promise that it is relevant to the CCG(s) of ours that you play. There may even be some cool spoiler bits within.

And who knows? It may even be fun!

Without further ado, here goes: the longest column I've ever written. Hope you like it.

Two collectible card games walked into a bar. Not together, yet not separately. The establishment, about half-full with surly patrons, fell into a somber lull at their approach. Nobody looked right at the newcomers, but there were plenty of shifting eyebrows and darting glances from the crowd.

It was evening, and when the front door swung shut, the light from the westering sun disappeared like the snuffing of the last candle in hell. And hell it was, indeed, with a rank odor that only poor ventilation and the lack of a bath house could supply permeating every square foot of the place.

One of the two collectible card games was a strange being, difficult to perceive and impossible to look at without the distinct feeling that one was gazing into everything they thought they had understood twisted into an incomprehensible contortion of itself. The other, a scruffy individual, had a familiar air, like someone you'd read about in a history book, save for his modern guise. He carried himself in such a way that made you know he was not your average fantastic rendition of a historical figure.

The bartender eyed the two strangers as they approached. 'It's about damn time you showed up," he said. 'What can I get you?'

'My name is Cthulhu,' said the strange one. 'Arkham Cthulhu. Here's my card.' He handed over a scintillating object; it pulsed through the visible color spectrum at different angles.

'Name's Song,' said the scruffy one. 'Ice and Fire. Most people just call me Throne, but I like to go by Westeros.' His tone grated, a reflection of his mood. He tossed a blue card across the counter. It was covered in tiny metal spikes.

'Right,' said the barkeep. 'But the question was, what'll you have?'

'The blood of a fresh sacrifice by the midnight moon,' said Arkham.

'Ale,' said Westeros.

As the bartender made busy with the drinks, the two games looked at each other, as if noticing for the first time that they had not entered the establishment alone. It was a prolonged, awkward moment, but between them passed a silent understanding. Their simultaneous arrival was not a coincidence.

'What brings you to these parts?' asked Arkham.

Westeros grinned wryly. 'Come here every few months. You have to; happens to every one of us at a particular time.'

'And why is that?'

'Well, it's obvious that you're a success. I can tell, 'cos even though you're going through hell right now, you're gonna walk right out of here when we're done. You got that look about you.'

Arkham gave him a look. 'What you say is strange. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I must confess my ignorance as to your meaning.'

'You've been to Development Hell before, right?' said Westeros.

'Development Hell. I confess, I have been there. But this...'

'Same crap, different locale.'

'And you?'

Westeros shrugged. 'I'm an old hat.'

'I see.' Arkham reflected for a moment. 'I have another confession.'

'Do tell.'

'I've never been to Development Hell with another game before.'

Westeros grinned again, showing his green teeth and black spaces. 'I have.'

'Indeed?'

'Yeah,' he said. 'Been here last year, give or take a few months. Hey, see that drunk sitting alone in the Booth of Failed Ideas?'

Arkham nodded.

'That's ________. We shared a trip to Development Hell. Heh, dad was on this major guilt trip about me feeling ignored while he worked on him. I was like, doesn't matter, pops! He ain't going anywhere. Got that look about him; I can tell these things.'

The bartender served the drinks with a grunt. Ignoring him, Arkham continued: 'He never made it, it seems.'

'Nope,' Westeros said with a hint of amusement. 'He was all like, 'Oh, I'm going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread. Your days in the spotlight are over, old man!' I remember laughing right in his face. See, everyone always underestimates us old timers. Never give us our due. But the bosses like me. Shows, too.'

'I wonder what's going to happen to ________,' Arkham said.

'Nothing,' said Westeros. 'Although I heard that dad's going to steal one of his Ideas and give it to you next Christmas.'

'Interesting! Pray tell, which Idea?'

'Nah. That'd be spoiling, and only dad gets to do that. Compulsive control-freak son of a...'

'Check it out,' said the barkeep as he slid a manila envelope towards them. 'For your eyes only, secret development instructions, blah blah blah.' With a desultory belch, he left them once again.

The envelope stared the two collectible card games right in the face. On its front read 'Big Picture Development: 2005.' All around them, the bar had since fallen into a pregnant silence.

'Interesting,' mused Westeros. 'Only one envelope.'

'I wonder which one of us it's for,' said Arkham.

'Pretty obvious if you ask me. Seniority and all. You'll get yours later.'

An older man sitting at one of the tables stood with a start. He smiled crookedly, and the gleam in his eyes betrayed his delight. 'I know what's in the envelope!'

'Good for you, George,' said Westeros. 'Haven't you killed Bran yet?'

Arkham grinned wryly. 'At least most of my protagonists have the decency to be dead.'

'Quiet you,' said Westeros. Then, turning his attention back to the envelope: 'I suppose it's time to find out what's big and new for this year.'

'Excuse me,' said Arkham. 'I don't believe that the envelope is for you.'

'Oh, please. You think it's for you? I'm the elder, I get first dibs.'

'Hardly rational, old man. My structure is dictated by a source far more aged than any you could possibly imagine.'

'Uh, check your copyright date.'

The strange one did so. 'It matters not if the date of my inception antecedes yours,' he said. 'And the very notion that such indicates some sort of class distinction, or inequality in the distribution of our rights, is one that I find offensive.'

'Hey look,' said Westeros to the bar. 'The FNG is getting hostile.'

'FNG?' asked a patron occupying the neighboring booth.

'Old infantry term,' came the reply. 'Now shut up, Timmy! I'm trying to hear the games fight!'

Arkham and Westeros continued their debate at the bar while the rest of the patrons looked on with increasing interest. More drinks were ordered, and tempers flared. Finally, Westeros had enough.

'Okay, you wanna go?' he said.

Arkham, nonplussed, rolled up his sleeves. 'I'd rather stay right here in Development Hell, thank you. But may I suggest that we engage in fisticuffs and attempt to pummel each other to death like gentlemen?'

That was something the two of them could agree on.

And so the collectible card games did battle. Though a normal battle this was not; as men duel with blades and bards match wits and poets struggle with themselves, these two games fought over the consciousness and loyalty of others. Rival design theories were put to the test, elegance of execution was debated, and the highly subjective 'fun factor' was discussed in great violent detail. A thrust, and Arkham would attack with his streamlined resource management system. A riposte, and Westeros would counter with seamlessly integrated influence. A lunge, and Westeros would engage with his highly original plot deck. A parry, and Arkham would turn the tables with his subtle but game defining story deck.

As the battle was fought, Public Opinion (a force too great for either game to imagine) looked on partially in dismay but mostly in worry. Between cries of 'narrative flow!' and 'broken between skill levels!' it was wondered just why the two would even fight at all.

The vibe was picked up by the patrons of the bar, who nervously began turning back to their drinks. The barkeep, far less subtle or cultured, snorted his disdain and spat into his dishrag.

When neither game budged during the thunderous attacks upon each other's conceptual integrity, the two of them began to slow.

'That is not dead which can eternal lie!' cried Arkham in a final halfhearted attempt to lunge.

'There are no other games like me,' said Westeros. 'There is only me.'

'Then why do we fight?'

'You started it!'

'Did not!'

'Did too!'

And with that, the battle came to an end. Some would say that it ended with a mewling whimper of shame, but that would be one for historians to decide.

'Ready to read the note yet?' said the barkeep.

They both nodded, and opened the manila envelope together. Inside was a single piece of paper with the words 'Peace on Earth' scribed in the center.

'You have got to be kidding,' said Westeros.

'There appears to be fine print,' said Arkham. And indeed there was; in tiny letters on the bottom right were typed 'over,' followed by an arrow.

They turned the note over, and read as one:

'Peace on Earth' was all it said. Ba-dum bum! Get it? Even if you don't, I bet you still feel pretty stupid for fighting before reading this, don't you?

Yeah, I knew you two would go at it; it happens with all games produced by the same R&D team the first time they enter Development Hell simultaneously. Call it envy, jealousy, inexperience, whatever' you guys and many of your fans always seem to share the belief that by your very existence you are in conflict with one another.

Let me tell you something: it is not humanly possible for you to be more wrong. You think that you have to fight for my attention? You assume that your developers (uncle Casey, cousins Pat and Darrell, and Overlord Chris) are only thinking of one of you at a time?

Think for a moment about how absurd that sounds. And just in case it doesn't sound absurd, shame on you!

Now that both of you have proven yourselves to be amongst the Successful, together you provide something very special to us and to your fans. In design I call it Category Synergy, but other less geeky types would call it 'cross-pollination of ideas.' You are both unique individuals, but every Idea that anyone in R&D gets while working with you is doubly valuable; you provide us with more than double the inspiration, and challenge us to be more than double as creative with you.

In short, you two are like brothers: stronger together than you were alone. And this year, we are going to prove it.

For the next few months we are all going into Development Hell together as we work the Big Plan for 2005. Each of you has reached a special and distinct crossroads; your paths are both forking and this year you two are going to shine like never before.

Don't worry; this note isn't going to cue some inspirational 80's training montage, but I hope you get the point. Now quit your damn fighting and get ready for the most excruciating trip to Development Hell either of you has ever experienced. Good thing you have each other to rely on for strength!

- The Designer

They put down the note, solemn in their realization.

'Not bad, eh?' said the barkeep. Except it wasn't the barkeep; there was no change to his visage or demeanor, but the two games finally saw that, through their own blindness and ego, they were speaking to the Designer.

'Dad?' they asked in unison.

'Oh come on,' the Designer said. 'You can't tell me you didn't see this coming. In such a thinly disguised parable?'

They looked away, ashamed.

'Anyway,' he continued. 'Now that you get the point, we can get started with it all. Westeros, this year we're kicking it off with our fourth block. Yep, the fourth block already! You excited?'

'Your letter sucked,' said Westeros.

'Yeah, I thought you'd be. Well, after A Reign of Kings, we're launching into the ' drum roll please ' Winter block. August will bring Winter Edition, followed by the two sets A Song of Twilight and concluding with A Song of Night. I've been waiting to do this block since A Sea of Storms, so you better be ready for this! We're not giving you as drastic a facelift as we did last year, but just you wait until you see the new theme and mechanics. It'll probably be what you expect, but not in the way you expect it. Okay, ready Arkham?'

The strange one nodded wordlessly.

'After the next set, Forbidden Relics, we're launching into the Eldritch block. The base set is Eldritch Edition, of course, but I can't tell you the names of the two follow-up sets yet because we're still debating the name of the third one. I sure hope you're ready for your sophomore year! You're getting a new story deck and a whole new layer of keywords! And the theme ' well, let's just say I hope you like pyramids. Things are about to get extremely interesting.'

The near-vacuum of silence in the bar was evident once the Designer finished pontificating. Arkham and Westeros shared a look, and another understanding passed between them. This may have been their first trip to Development Hell together, but it would definitely be their last.

'And don't forget,' added the Designer. '2005 is going to be a kickass year for both of you.'

'I wonder,' mused Arkham. 'If I were to order another sacrifice at the bar, do you think it could be him?'

'Make sure to get a mixed sacrifice,' said Westeros, 'and you may get all of R&D.'

'Cute,' said the Designer. 'Get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. The next few months are going to be crazier than ever; we've got High Expectations to surpass, and the Big Picture dogging our every step. Oh yeah, and plenty of Unnecessary Capitalization to edit. But it's going to be a wild ride.'

Satisfied, he smiled. 'Now get out of here! I just finished installing World of Warcraft and have to make a character.'

That's it for this week! Thanks for indulging me and my heavy-handed little fable, and I hope you enjoyed the spoilers contained within.

Join me next time, when we get back to discussing the issues.