Exploring the Afterlife Pt. 2/3

As we expanded on the many pitches generated for our set design project, it seems that we have produced enough material for several years of set design projects. I'd like to lay out the ideas I've had for Ankh Theb's afterlife theme for the future. It's quite in the realm of possibility that one day we'll design the Ankh Theb set.

Set Design: The Decision

Faithful readers, we've been pondering the question of which of our three set pitches to design. We looked at your feedback on the previous thread. We considered your answers to the many unanswered questions that these sets posed. Most of all, we looked at the proposed cards and mechanics. We even had an online playtesting session to determine whether our intuition for how various mechanics would play were correct.

Guided by this information, the Goblin Artisans authors have made a decision on which set we'll lead as a design project. And that set is...

Exploring the Afterlife Pt 1/3

I'd like to talk about some mechanics for representing the afterlife in an Egyptian set.

Ankh-Theb: The Restless Dead

HV: This pitch is by Antny.  Here are the pitches from rounds one, two, and three.

What are the major mechanical themes in the set according to your vision?

Mummify (all), Monuments (W/B ), River Flooding (U/G ), Proliferate

(all ), Vandalise(R )

Set Design: Unanswered Question #9

We're back in Egypt for another important question about Ankh-Theb. The single most iconic Egyptian creature is, of course, the mummy. Magic hasn't made many cards in this vein before, possibly because they're so evocative of a specific flavor, which doesn't always fit into magepunk fantasy. Cyclopean Mummy and Vengeful Pharaoh are the two exceptions.

Many of our Ankh-Theb pitches have had some version of a Mummify mechanic, but I don't think any of them is a slam dunk. "Vanillification" isn't likely to be a crowd-pleaser, and reincarnating DFCs feel more Indian that Egyptian. It's also possible, as Wobbles suggested, that mummies simply aren't scary unless you take them out of ancient Egypt. Readers, can you build a better mummy?

CCDD 032513—Slavedriver

Cool Card Design of the Day
3/25/2013 - I'm not entirely sure this idea was already presented, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Regardless, I wanted to get your opinion on this version of oppress for Ankh-Theb. It wouldn't be a major keyword for the set, just a smaller one with the purpose of communicating another theme of the plane. Maybe appearing on just 10 cards between common and mythic.

Set Design: Unanswered Question #6

Our next question is about Ankh-Theb, the plane with ancient Egyptian flavor. We've looked recently at the worldly side of the plane: ambition, mighty Pharoahs, etc. But it's also important that ancient Egypt was a heavily religious society, with magic and gods taking a central role in daily life. Our cards need to reflect that fact. So, dear readers, how can we represent the mystical side of Egypt?

Weekend Art Challenge Review 031513—Sephiroth

Weekend Art Challenge Review
Here's the challenge we're reviewing today.

Weekend Art Challenge 031513—Sephiroth

Weekend Art Challenge
Click through to see this weekend's art by Sephiroth and the design requirements for your card submission, due Monday morning. Remember that you may ask for feedback by mid-day Sunday and redesign your submission once after you get it.

CCDD 031313—Desert Warlord

Cool Card Design of the Day
3/13/2013 - Some wish for power. They are weak. Some are born with power. They are fools. True power is taken. You cannot be given power, for it is the act of taking that is power.

CCDD 030713—Great Pharaoh, High Priest & War Pharaoh

Cool Card Design of the Day
3/7/2013 - I've been looking for the universal thread woven into the great Egyptian tapestry and—wow, labored metaphors are really lame. Innistrad's Horror theme revolves around transformation. Ankh-Theb's Egyptian theme revolves around… greed and ambition. At least, that's making a lot of sense so far. If you think you can find something more central, please do share.

So, the big mechanic of Ankh-Theb—the one that makes this plane play differently from other destinations in the Multiverse—should read, look and/or play like the limitless ambition of a king who would make thousands of men sweet, bleed and die in the desert in order to build him the grandest monument of all. Like the unflinching greed of a slavemaster who would shackle, whip and dehumanize his kin so that he can wear the finest silks, drink foreign wine and buy girls for his harem. Like the mighty gods who demand sacrifice and tribute and repay doubt with death.

Of course now that I've built up what I'm going for, you can only be disappointed with the execution. But this is only meant as a starting point. Do better and we'll build upon our efforts like a pyramid. A Great Pyramid of LEGOS! *cough* Or something.

Set Design: Unanswered Question #3

Today's question is about our Egyptian world, Ankh-Theb. We've come up with quite a variety of mechanics for this world, but none of them is a game-changer. Chah made an insightful comment about this a while ago:

It seems to me that the most difficult challenge in designing these pitches is to find a mechanic that changes how Magic plays in a big way and creates a new game experience - something like Infect, DFCs, Level Up, Annihilator, Landfall, Hybrid mana, or Soulbond. 

Not every mechanic needs to do that - there can be fun but minor mechanics on the side like Cascade or Clash, or utility mechanics like Cycling. But it seems to me that most real-life sets have at least one mechanic that really sculpts new game play. 

The exception to that might be sets where the structure of the set itself rather than any single mechanic distinguishes the set's game play (such as the faction systems in Return to Ravnica and Lorwyn, or the high density of artifacts in the original Mirrodin).

Ankh-Theb certainly doesn't seem to be the sort of set that falls into the category described in the third paragraph. So tell us, readers: What is Ankh-Theb's game-changer mechanic?

Ankh-Theb: Make your life now - Your next is not your own.

HV: This pitch is by James Bartolotti.  Here are the pitches from rounds one, two, and three.

Mechanical Themes: Green and Blue have a theme of growth, realized with harvest counters that you gain from your creatures and spend for effects. White and Black interact with death, by avoiding it (the Mummify mechanic), or defiling it (e.g., Fallen Kathari). Red tribes make their life in the desert,  returning to strike at civilization in one large attack.

Ankh-Theb: The Fertile Land

HV: This pitch is by Nich Grayson.  Here are the pitches from rounds one, two, and three.

Which set are you pitching?

Ankh-Theb

What is the name of your pitch?

The Fertile Land

What are the major mechanical themes in the set according to your vision?

1.) Ankh is a supertype that is referenced in the set by spells and effects. Each color uses it differently.  It’s most unique feature in this set is that effects count even in the graveyard. That should give it a sufficient afterlife feel.
2.) Eternal Servitude’s flavor is lesser souls of the Plane returning after death to serve the more powerful. It uses the rules created by Morph (minus the ability to flip face up).
3.) Retrace is the returning mechanic. It’ll have a fortune-telling hieroglyph flavor this go around. The twist is that it’ll also be on permanents.
4.) Enemy color theme. Dictated by the flavor of the setting, I see strong reasons to include multicolor enemy colors.

Ankh-Theb: The Mummy Returns

HV: This pitch is by James Bartolotti.  My comments are in blue.  Here are the pitches from rounds one and two.

Set: Ankh-Theb

Pitch Name: The Mummy Returns

Mechanical Themes: WBR desert society, with Mummify and Exiling creatures from graveyards as a cost. GU river society, with Cyclic growth ("Thallid" mechanic).

50 Word summary:
The path to the afterlife is getting harder to achieve. Instead of finding peace, the recently deceased are returning as undead husks of their former selves. Some blame the secularization of the river society, who forgo the gods for bountiful life on earth. Others blame the cultists who desecrate the dead.

Set Design: Ankh-Theb 2

HV: This pitch is by George Gone.  My comments are in blue.  The pitch from round one is here.  The wiki page for this set is here. 

Set Design Pitch: Ankh-Theb

HV: This set pitch is by fading shadows of a memory beloved.  My comments are in blue.

What is the name of your set?

Ankh-Theb

What is the core concept of your set?

An egyptian plane (top down designs) has its 3 kingdoms fighting over the control of sacred areas. Whoever controls them can influence the set of planar rules that determine who gets to have a pleasant afterlife and who will be left to the dead-eating gods. The plain is crossed by a river like the Nile. There are 3 kingdoms (Low, middle and high, corresponding respectively to the end at the seaside, the rocky middle part of the river and the swampy sources of the river). The High kingdom is black (minor green) aligned, the middle kingdom is Red (minor green) and the low kingdom is White (minor blue). The priestly organization tries not to interfere, with the kathari (as seen in Shards of alara) gathering knowledge, while the river priests care for the fertility rites.

Submit seven designs for common cards which represent some of the basic mechanical themes of your set.  All five colors must be represented.  You may repeat colors and/or design colorless cards.