New Card: Eagle (Seven Seas #8)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

I don't remember the exact inspiration for this card. I actually checked the old mailing list messages, and even there it states that it isn't connected to the response I gave, but I have a couple of good .sigcards lying around.

Eagle Mortal, Vitality 6/8, OCB 2, Large, Flying, Animal/Knight, CMP 0, red bar.
+4 in Mountains, +3 when defending strongholds (these are cumulative and in addition to other stronghold bonuses).
(Artwork: Cabral, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

My original text file states that the Eagle is an Animal, not a Knight. I don't know when that addition was made, or if I made note of it at the time.

Inspired by the emblem of the U.S. as much as any reference to The Hobbit.

New Card: Crash of Rhinos (Seven Seas #7)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

This name of this card was likely inspired by the Magic: the Gathering card of the same name. Yes, a group of rhinos is called a "Crash", which I learned during an Ice Age pre-release sealed deck tournament. (The only one I ever participated in.) This card, however, was probably inspired by a need to add more Animals, even if the artwork is humanoid.

Crash of Rhinos Mortal, Vitality 12, OCB 3, Large, Animal, CMP 0, red bar.
+3 Vitality when Shield is attacking, -3 Vitality when Shield is defending.
(Artwork: Zug, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

The Off-color bonus tells you that Rhinos don't care about Elementals much. They could be worth 18 against Elementals before other modifiers.

New Card: Magic Rabbit (Seven Seas #6)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

I don't remember what prompted this. I'd have to check if the text was modified because I could imagine creating a card to give a bonus to Wizards. On the other hand, my usual opponent back in the day had a very effective Fairy deck, which needed no help at all. Actually, this card might hurt, because it was a command card, and there are better Fairy (or Small creature) command cards.

It could be that the text was changed because of the Artwork that was used.

Magic Rabbit Mortal, Vitality 1, Small, Animal, CMP 0, red bar.
C: All your Fairy and Wizards are +1 Vitality.
(Artwork: Whelan, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

Okay, I found my original file. Fairies didn't get a bonus, so it was an artwork thing.

What do you think? Just Wizards? Or Wizards and fairies?

New Card: Stairway to Heaven (Seven Seas #5)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

One of my complaints about the original set, one of my pet peeves, is that Angels get their wings clipped compared to the Demons and Devils. And the expansions didn't really help the imbalance much.

As a result, I've come up with a few ideas to make an Angel deck somewhat workable. (In real life, I've only used Angels to support Knights, who actually can stand on their own against certain decks.)

Stairway to Heaven Spell, Up 12
Play during Draw & Organise Phase, return up to 10 Vitality of Angels from your discard pile to your Storage Hand. Costs 1 Power stone to use.
(Artwork: Warren, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Thierry)

Honestly, the card isn't that good because 10 points isn't all that much. You'll be lucky to get two Angels back because of their size. Had I thought about it, the text should've had "Or One Angel of any Vitality" added to it.

Thoughts? Would that be better? Should it have been 12 or 14 points, especially since you're spending a stone?

Side note: Reading through the other Seven Seas cards, I saw that there's one called "Balder's Gate", which is essentially the same card, but for Knights. I wonder if they copied my idea, or if we were both inspired by something else. I don't remember.

New Card: Run Away! (Seven Seas #4)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

This card might've started as a joke, but the text seems serious enough to me now.

Run Away! Spell, Up 6
Play on one of your own creatures in a primary match-up before any ranged attacks or any other Spells are cast (but after any Bribery attempts). Your creature flees to your Creature Pen.
(Artwork: Den, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

The effect is bribing your own Creature if you think it will likely lose. You have to allow for Bribery first -- although if someone bribes your Creature, then you don't need to cast it. You could try to Bribe your opponent first, also. Failing that, it's a way to save your creature, but it must be done before ranged attacks start.

I would rule that it would NOT save a Creature from Destruction. In my games, "Destroys" takes immediate effect right after Bribery. While this is like Bribery, it is a Spell, so the Destruction happens first.

The only retroactive Spell card in the game is "Dispel Magic". No other Spell interrupts earlier Spells or effects.

New Card: Pony Express (Seven Seas #3)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

I made a comment on the previous card about increasing movement. I look at the next card, and it's a Spell that increases movement!

The limitation of Pony Express is that it requires the Shield to have a Horse, and the Horses must be discarded -- so it would be silly, and wasteful, to have more than one.

Pony Express Spell, Up 2,
Play before turning a Shield. Non-flying shield may move one extra space as long as the Shield has at least one Horse. Discard all Horses after moving. All other movement restrictions apply.
(Artwork: Whelan, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

The only possible "abuse" I see of this, and people are free to argue, is if the Horse has an Amulet of Flying. This could make it conceivable that there could be a First-Turn Guardian Kill. It would take an amazing stroke of luck to pull off though. You would have to have this Spell, a Horse, an Amulet of Flying, a Shield, and large flying creatures with some way to kill the opponent's Guardian. This assumes that you don't have to fight any creatures defending the Stronghold first.

Were this to happen against me, I'd likely be equal parts impressed and ticked off. But I would also say, shuffle 'em up, and let's go again.

New Card: Battering Ram (Seven Seas #2)

Years ago, many of my "sigcards" from the Yahoo Mailing List for Guardians CCG were incorporated into the fan-made expansion set Seven Seas. I have started to import my homebrew cards to this blog in case Phil, the Bar Fly's website ever goes away.

The second card, another Hand Magic Item, was Battering Ram. Note: usually, there wasn't any particular reason for the Up number on the card.

Battering Ram Hand Magic Item, Up 9,
Play as a command card. When your Shield is attacking, Battering Ram has a 2-pt AOE for each space moved. Does not affect flying creatures.
(Artwork: Sweet, Text: C.J. Burke, Design: Cath)

Basically, it was either a 2-pt or a 4-pt AOE, unless there's a card that allows three-space movement. (If I created a homebrew card that allows three space movement, it wouldn't be allowed to fly, and it wouldn't be allowed to attack a Guardian on the same turn. I might even give the Shield a negative modifier for battle.)

Addendum: Okay, so I typed and scheduled this post and then looked for the next card -- which actually allows extra movement, with restrictions. It's possible that it could be abused, but not too likely, I think.