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Concept: A Smash Bros. TCG


Lord_Brand
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This is a little tie-in idea I've had for a while: a Super Smash Bros. TCG.

  • Objective: Score a certain number of victory points first by knocking out your opponents' Fighters and Assists.
  • Build a deck of 60 or more cards with a lead Fighter as the face of your deck.
  • Attack with Moves to rack up damage and score knock outs.
  • Power up your Fighters with Items.
  • Summon Assists to support your Fighter or to help them attack.
  • Play Arenas to alter the flow of battle with benefits, hazards, and restrictions.
  • Events last for a specific number of turns.
  • Challenge mighty Bosses.

The Smash Bros. TCG is designed to be fast-paced, much like the console game it's based on. The expected game length is 5-10 minutes. Your main deck can include up to 4 copies of a given card.

Attributes - Attributes appear as colored symbols on cards. Their primary function is to determine which cards can be played using which Fighters.

Spoiler

Neutral - A gray hexagon on a white circle. Compatible with Fighters of any attribute. Cards in this attribute tend to be a bit simpler or weaker than those of other attributes, but can be used to help fill a deck's weaknesses.

Brawl - A red fist on a pink circle. Involves the use of hands and feet. Good at playing combos.

Weapon - A sword. Involves the use of a melee or projectile weapon such as a sword or bow. Often has priority, and focuses a lot on items, especially Equipment.

Fire - An orange flame on a red circle. Involves the use of fire. Features burning and explosion effects, and is often effective against Nature.

Lightning - A yellow lightning bolt. Involves the use of lightning. Features a lot of stun effects, and is often effective against Water, Tech, or Air targets.

Water - A blue droplet. Involves the use of water or ice. Focuses on dampening or freezing opponents.

Air - A feather on a blue circle. Involves the use of wings or wind. Often focuses on aerial and anti-air combat.

Magic - A yellow star on a purple circle. Involves the use of magical abilities. Often uses MP as a resource.

Nature - A green leaf. Involves the use of plants and animals. Good at summoning assists and healing damage.

Tech - A grey gear. Involves the use of hi-tech weapons and gadgets such as blasters. Good at playing Items.

Psychic - A purple eye. Involves the use of psychic powers. Good at card and effect manipulation.

Fighters

Spoiler

Each deck has a lead Fighter that starts the game in play. Your Fighter's attribute determines which Moves, Items, Assists, and other Fighters they can use or summon, though cards with a Neutral Attribute can be played using any Fighter.

  • A Fighter that's used is turned sideways. As long as a Fighter is sideways, they cannot be used to attack, summon, or to activate Actions that require using a Fighter. Fighters automatically refresh at the start of your turn, but some effects can refresh them manually.
  • Many Fighters possess more than one Attribute, granting them extra versatility. For example, the basic Mario Fighter has Brawl and Fire attributes, allowing you to play either Brawl or Fire cards with him. A Fighter with more than one Attribute can be summoned by another Fighter of either attribute. For example, the aforementioned Mario fighter can be summoned using a Fighter who is either Brawl or Fire-attribute, but not necessarily both. This allows you to branch out your range of attributes beyond what your lead Fighter offers.
    • Some Moves, Items, or Assists have hybrid attributes, allowing them to be played using Fighters of either attribute. A lightning spell for example might be Lightning/Magic, allowing you to play it using either a Lightning or Magic-attribute fighter. Hybrid attributes appear as a single circle depicting the symbols of the two Attributes.
    • Cards with a Neutral attribute can be played using a Fighter of any attribute. However, a Fighter with a Neutral attribute can only play cards with a Neutral Attribute.
  • Fighters have Launch and Critical numbers that indicate how much damage they can take before they are in danger of being knocked out.
    • If a Fighter is launched while they are past their Launch threshold, they will be knocked out at the end of the turn unless they recover before then.
    • If a Fighter is launched while they are above their Critical threshold, they will be knocked out instantly.
    • If a Fighter is dealt lethal damage while they are past their Launch or Critical thresholds, they will be knocked out instantly.
  • Each Fighter, Assist, and Boss has a VP value that indicates how many victory points a player scores when they knock that target out. Not all targets are worth the same amount; a stronger target will oftentimes be worth more VP.
  • Most Fighters go to the discard pile when knocked out, however the lead Fighter instead goes to the respawn zone from which they will return to play at the end of the turn.

Abilities

Spoiler

Fighters and Assists both often feature abilities.

  • Passive Abilities remain in effect full time.
  • Action Abilities can be used once per turn.

Moves

Spoiler

Moves are the primary means of attacking and defending. During your turn, you play Moves to attack, while during an opponent's turn, you play Moves to defend.

  • Attack effects are listed next to a sword icon in a red text box. To attack with a Move, turn a Fighter you control with a matching attribute sideways.
  • Defense effects are listed next to a shield icon in a blue text box. To defend with a Move, simply play the Move in response to an opponent's attack; you don't have to turn a Fighter sideways to defend, you only need to control a Fighter with the appropriate attribute.
  • Some Moves have additional modes beyond Attack or Defend. Some Moves may lack an Attack or Defend mode and feature one of these special Modes instead.

Items

Spoiler

Items can be used to enhance your Fighters.

  • Equipment - These items are attached to Fighters and often have long-term effects. Weapons provide attack abilities while Armor provides defense abilities. To play an Equipment, you turn a Fighter of a matching attribute sideways.
  • Power-Up - These items have short-term effects, typically lasting no longer than the current turn. To play a Power-Up, you just need to control a Fighter of a matching attribute.

Assists

Spoiler

Assists can be summoned to aid your Fighter in battle. The extra help comes with a risk: Assists have VP values, just like Fighters, meaning your opponent can knock them out and score victory points.

  • Like Moves, Assists have an Attribute that determines who can be used to summon them, though many have a Neutral Attribute that allows you to use any Fighter to summon them.
  • Unlike Moves, Assists can only be summoned by a player during their own turn.

Keywords

Spoiler

Keywords are pieces of rules text which describe particular mechanics.

Absorb - An absorbed attack heals the target instead of damaging them.

Aerial - A move with Aerial can only be defended against by a move with Aerial or with Anti-Air.

Anti-Air - The move can be used to defend against moves with Aerial.

Burn - A burned target takes 10 additional damage at the end of the turn.

Combo - A move with Combo can be chained into another move with Combo, provided the followup move can also be played by the Fighter.

Counter - When the user would next be dealt damage by a move or item this turn, counter that attack and deals damage to the user of that move or item.

Dampen - The target's attacks and abilities deal 10 less damage until the end of its controller's turn.

Flinch - A flinched fighter's current move or combo is canceled.

Freeze - A freeze counter is placed on the target and it is turned sideways. If a target would refresh while it has a freeze counter on it, instead remove a freeze counter from it.

Heal N - Remove N damage counters from the target.

Invincible - An invincible fighter cannot be dealt damage.

Launch - When a fighter is launched while they are at or above Launch damage, they will be knocked out at the end of the turn unless they recover. If a Fighter is launched while they are at or above Critical damage, they will be knocked out instantly.

Lethal - If the Item or Move damages a fighter while they are at or above Launch damage, they will be knocked out instantly.

Poison - Damage is dealt to the target in the form of poison counters. At the end of each turn, the target takes damage equal to the number of poison counters on it, then a poison counter is removed from it.

Priority - A move with priority takes effect before a move without priority.

Projectile - The user of a projectile move or item can't be damaged by moves or items defending against that projectile or by attacks the projectile is defending against.

Recover - The fighter recovers from being launched.

Reflect - A reflected projectile deals damage to its user instead of the target.

Stun - A stunned target cannot use moves or summon for the rest of the turn.

Super Armor - A fighter with super armor cannot be flinched, stunned, or frozen.

Supplements

Spoiler

These are additional card types that can be added to the game for extra fun and variance.

  • Arenas - Arenas affect the entire field. When the game starts, you shuffle your Arena deck and reveal the top Arena. This is your starting Arena. Over the course of the game, your Arena may change.
  • Events - Events are played automatically, starting with one being revealed at the start of the game. Each Event lasts for a specific number of turns, after which the Event ends and a new Event is revealed from the Event deck.
  • Bosses - Boss cards represent formidable foes who players can fight solo or as a team. Bosses get their own turns, and on each of their turns will use an ability according to their unique ability map. Some bosses may use abilities in a specific order, while others will instead choose an effect based on certain conditions. Some might even act randomly according to the roll of a die. To knock out a boss, you must deplete their HP. When a Boss is knocked out, the player who defeated it scores victory points equal to its VP. If two or more players fought the boss as a team, they divide the VP evenly between them, rounded up.

Turn Order

Spoiler

The basic turn order goes like this:

  1. The active player refreshes all Fighters and Assists.
  2. The active player draws a card.
  3. The active player may activate abilities or play Moves, Items, or Assists. Any players being attacked may then activate abilities or play Moves or Power-Ups in response.
  4. Launched fighters are knocked out.
  5. Lead fighters that were knocked out this turn respawn.
  6. Effects that last until end of turn end.
  7. Play passes to the next player in turn order.

Trying to figure out details like starting hand sizes and the ideal victory point target total.

Edited by Lord_Brand
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If I were back in my childhood home right now I could show you some really crappy laminated and misspelled cards for that very idea produced in, like, 2003...but alas I am not...Still think I had some good game design ideas for a TCG though.

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On 2/13/2022 at 7:40 AM, Morgan--Grandmaster said:

Oh, I love this!

Thanks!

On 2/15/2022 at 11:33 AM, Jotari said:

If I were back in my childhood home right now I could show you some really crappy laminated and misspelled cards for that very idea produced in, like, 2003...but alas I am not...Still think I had some good game design ideas for a TCG though.

Oh? Want to share some?

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I definitely like the idea! I'd probably make it so you have multiple fighters in a deck. Where the loss condition is either that all your fighters are knocked out, or a certain number are knocked out (a la Pokemon). There could be series-based synergy, too - a Poke Ball Assist card (such as Meowth) could do more damage while you have Pikachu on the field as a Fighter. Or the Maxim Tomato could heal more damage on Meta Knight than on non-Kirby characters. You could probably reimagine franchise staples to have a TCG-relevant effect: "Master Hand", for instance, could let you pick any Fighter card from your deck, while "Crazy Hand" would have you draw three cards, then discard all of them that aren't a Fighter card.

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3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I definitely like the idea! I'd probably make it so you have multiple fighters in a deck. Where the loss condition is either that all your fighters are knocked out, or a certain number are knocked out (a la Pokemon). There could be series-based synergy, too - a Poke Ball Assist card (such as Meowth) could do more damage while you have Pikachu on the field as a Fighter. Or the Maxim Tomato could heal more damage on Meta Knight than on non-Kirby characters. You could probably reimagine franchise staples to have a TCG-relevant effect: "Master Hand", for instance, could let you pick any Fighter card from your deck, while "Crazy Hand" would have you draw three cards, then discard all of them that aren't a Fighter card.

The current version of the rules do allow for multiple Fighters per deck, it's just that they all have to fit within the attributes of the "lead" fighter. For those familiar with Magic: The Gathering, it's similar to Commander's "color identity" rule.

Series-based synergy does sound cool, but part of the appeal of Smash is the ability to mash up elements of Series A and Series B, so I'd put greater emphasis on mechanical synergy. That said, I do picture there being themed precon decks of cards primarily pulling from specific series, like a Mario-centric Power Up deck or a Zelda-centric Equipment deck, so it's perfectly possible to have something like a Kirby deck themed around Food-based items or a Pikachu deck full of Pokemon Assists that play into Pikachu's lightning-centric strategy.

Furthermore, I would intend for there to be variants of Fighters with different Attributes, like a Sunshine Mario who's Water (and maybe Tech) rather than Brawl/Fire.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/17/2022 at 11:03 PM, Lord_Brand said:

That said, I do picture there being themed precon decks of cards primarily pulling from specific series, like a Mario-centric Power Up deck or a Zelda-centric Equipment deck, so it's perfectly possible to have something like a Kirby deck themed around Food-based items or a Pikachu deck full of Pokemon Assists that play into Pikachu's lightning-centric strategy.

Furthermore, I would intend for there to be variants of Fighters with different Attributes, like a Sunshine Mario who's Water (and maybe Tech) rather than Brawl/Fire.

With as many Mii Costumes and alts as there are, this would be a great way to have variation. Like you could have a Basic Mii Brawler, or that same Mii Brawler, but in the Cat Suit, so instead, he would have the Nature attribute. Speaking of naturally, I'm going on ahead and adding a holographic Poltergust Luigi that's Air/Tech and Pikachu Libre with Lightning/Brawl.

Also, what does anyone think a good word for "debuff", like say, a Reset Bomb Forest Arena causes a Nature-attribute Boost, but also a debuff for Tech cards?

Edited by Morgan--Grandmaster
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On 2/26/2022 at 9:37 AM, Morgan--Grandmaster said:

With as many Mii Costumes and alts as there are, this would be a great way to have variation. Like you could have a Basic Mii Brawler, or that same Mii Brawler, but in the Cat Suit, so instead, he would have the Nature attribute. Speaking of naturally, I'm going on ahead and adding a holographic Poltergust Luigi that's Air/Tech and Pikachu Libre with Lightning/Brawl.

Also, what does anyone think a good word for "debuff", like say, a Reset Bomb Forest Arena causes a Nature-attribute Boost, but also a debuff for Tech cards?

I'd argue the Cat Suit Mii Brawler would count as Brawl/Nature, but I see your point. Air/Tech sounds perfect for Poltergust Luigi.

I could see that being one possible use for Arenas. Reset Bomb Forest being pro-Nature + anti-Tech makes a lot of sense. Viridi herself could appear as a Nature/Magic Fighter with a built-in anti-Tech ability, like drawing a card every time you defeat a Tech Fighter or Assist.

One of the exciting things about a Smash TCG is that you can include way more Fighters than a console Smash game, due to there being far fewer knobs to tweak. Want Arle Nadja to get a Fighter card? Shantae? Crash Bandicoot? Tifa Lockhart? Lara Croft? As long as you can get the rights, you can have a card whipped up in a day. You don't have to worry about animations, hitboxes, or frame data, you just need some pretty art to put on the cards as well as proper balancing of their statistics and abilities. Although, if there were to be a virtual version, you could have animated art a la Capcom's TEPPEN.

That said, a lot of major characters would probably be Fighters by default, while common NPCs and mooks make up the majority of Assists. For example, Goombario could be a Fighter while your basic Goomba would be an Assist. Toad could go either way, but a Toad Fighter would have more distinction, like Captain Toad versus, say, a Toad Soldier Assist.

There's a lot of potential for expansions, too. Think of, say, a Street Fighter expansion that adds Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, M. Bison, Akuma, and other series icons alongside their iconic moves, or a Mega Man expansion that adds not only Mega Man but also Roll, Proto Man, Bass, and many Robot Masters to the game. If you can get multiple companies on board, you could have holiday-themed expansions like Halloween and Christmas.

Ooh, I got a fun card design!

  • Bowser, Master of Minions
  • Brawl/Fire
  • As long as Bowser, Master of Minions is your lead Fighter, you may include Assists of any attribute in your deck.
  • Bowser, Master of Minions can be used to summon Assists of any attribute.

This Bowser card plays into Bowser's dynamic as the boss of many baddies. He's essentially an "All-attribute" or  "rainbow" Fighter for players who want to play lots of different Assists, including the diverse array of minions he commands. Note that just because you get to play Assists of any attribute in his deck doesn't mean you can play Moves of any Attribute, even if you have an Assist of that attribute on the field; this Bowser's "rainbow" ability extends only to Assists.

Truth be told, I'm starting to reconsider Assists being used to play Moves or other cards since they're essentially supposed to represent AI-controlled allies versus Fighters who represent playable characters.

I'm also rethinking Items all being effectively Neutral-attribute; if a particularly good Item can be played with any attribute, then every deck will run that Item if possible. You can still have a lot of items with the Neutral Attribute to keep with the spirit of anyone being able to use them, but particularly strong Items should probably have an Attribute restriction to balance them.

I'm cooking up some keywords and other mechanics, many of which are inspired by those from other TCGs, as well as refining the gameplay rules further:

  • Absorb: This move will negate certain kinds of moves and heal the user.
  • Aerial: This has an advantage against moves without aerial or anti-air.
  • Anti-Air: This has an advantage against moves with aerial.
  • Burn: A fighter or assist that gets burned takes additional damage.
  • Combo: This move can be played immediately after another move with combo.
  • Counter: This move will negate an attack without long range and deal damage to the user.
  • Dampen: Reduces a move or ability's damage by a certain amount.
  • Dodge: The fighter avoids all damage from an incoming attack.
  • Flinch: If a fighter or assist flinches while using a move or ability, that move or ability is negated.
  • Freeze: The fighter or assist can't use moves or abilities until its controller's next refresh step.
  • Launch: If this move hits a fighter or assist in critical status, they will knocked out at the end of the turn.
  • Lethal: If this move hits a fighter or assist in critical status, they will be knocked out instantly.
  • Lifesteal: The move will heal the user.
  • Long Range: The move is a projectile attack.
  • Priority: This move negates moves without priority.
  • Push: Negates a move without long range.
  • Recovery: The user recovers from being launched and will not be knocked out.
  • Reflect: This move will redirect an attack with long range back to the user.
  • Stun: The fighter or assist can't use moves or abilities until end of turn.
  • Super Armor: This Fighter/Assist can't be flinched.

Much like other TCGs where different resources matter, the different Attributes need to have some distinct gameplay roles figured out. Though my current plan is to lump ice in with Water and light and dark in with Magic, I am tempted to make those separate Attributes, hence I have them listed in italics.

  • Neutral - A little of everything, but less effective than other Attributes.
  • Brawl - Good at combos.
  • Weapon - Good at using items, especially Equipment. Often has long range and/or priority.
  • Fire - Good at racking up damage over time with burn effects or hitting multiple targets with explosions, but poor at defense. Good at trumping Nature, could have a rivalry with Ice.
  • Ice - Good at freezing fighters and assists. Can be good at defense.
  • Lightning - Good at flinching and stunning Fighters and Assists. Might be able to make use of counters as a resource representing electric charge.
  • Water - Can dampen opponents, making their attacks weaker. Could use water as a resource in the form of counters or discard.
  • Air - Focuses a lot on aerial and anti-air attacks, as well as pushing.
  • Magic - Versatile, but often requires additional resources such as discarding or spending MP counters.
  • Nature - Good at summoning assists, especially of its own Attribute.
  • Tech - Good at using items and summoning assists.
  • Psychic - Good at drawing extra cards.
  • Dark - Good at lifesteal and using double-edged tactics.
  • Light - Good at healing and protection.

I'm thinking of adding Smash, Special, and Throw as move subtypes. There's potential for other subtypes as well.

Edited by Lord_Brand
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/15/2022 at 6:59 PM, AnonymousSpeed said:

How has @SoulWeaver not replied to this thread?

The answer would be he never leaves the WYBO thread so he didn't see it.

On 2/13/2022 at 2:58 AM, Lord_Brand said:

This is a little tie-in idea I've had for a while: a Super Smash Bros. TCG.

  • Objective: Score a certain number of victory points first by knocking out your opponents' Fighters and Assists.
  • Build a deck of 60 or more cards with a lead Fighter as the face of your deck.
  • Attack with Moves to rack up damage and score knock outs.
  • Power up your Fighters with Items.
  • Summon Assists to support your Fighter or to help them attack.
  • Play Arenas to alter the flow of battle with benefits, hazards, and restrictions.
  • Events last for a specific number of turns.
  • Challenge mighty Bosses.

The Smash Bros. TCG is designed to be fast-paced, much like the console game it's based on. The expected game length is 5-10 minutes. Your main deck can include up to 4 copies of a given card.

Attributes - Attributes appear as colored symbols on cards. Their primary function is to determine which cards can be played using which Fighters.

  Reveal hidden contents

Neutral - A gray hexagon on a white circle. Compatible with Fighters of any attribute. Cards in this attribute tend to be a bit simpler or weaker than those of other attributes, but can be used to help fill a deck's weaknesses.

Brawl - A red fist on a pink circle. Involves the use of hands and feet. Good at playing combos.

Weapon - A sword. Involves the use of a melee or projectile weapon such as a sword or bow. Often has priority, and focuses a lot on items, especially Equipment.

Fire - An orange flame on a red circle. Involves the use of fire. Features burning and explosion effects, and is often effective against Nature.

Lightning - A yellow lightning bolt. Involves the use of lightning. Features a lot of stun effects, and is often effective against Water, Tech, or Air targets.

Water - A blue droplet. Involves the use of water or ice. Focuses on dampening or freezing opponents.

Air - A feather on a blue circle. Involves the use of wings or wind. Often focuses on aerial and anti-air combat.

Magic - A yellow star on a purple circle. Involves the use of magical abilities. Often uses MP as a resource.

Nature - A green leaf. Involves the use of plants and animals. Good at summoning assists and healing damage.

Tech - A grey gear. Involves the use of hi-tech weapons and gadgets such as blasters. Good at playing Items.

Psychic - A purple eye. Involves the use of psychic powers. Good at card and effect manipulation.

Fighters

  Reveal hidden contents

Each deck has a lead Fighter that starts the game in play. Your Fighter's attribute determines which Moves, Items, Assists, and other Fighters they can use or summon, though cards with a Neutral Attribute can be played using any Fighter.

  • A Fighter that's used is turned sideways. As long as a Fighter is sideways, they cannot be used to attack, summon, or to activate Actions that require using a Fighter. Fighters automatically refresh at the start of your turn, but some effects can refresh them manually.
  • Many Fighters possess more than one Attribute, granting them extra versatility. For example, the basic Mario Fighter has Brawl and Fire attributes, allowing you to play either Brawl or Fire cards with him. A Fighter with more than one Attribute can be summoned by another Fighter of either attribute. For example, the aforementioned Mario fighter can be summoned using a Fighter who is either Brawl or Fire-attribute, but not necessarily both. This allows you to branch out your range of attributes beyond what your lead Fighter offers.
    • Some Moves, Items, or Assists have hybrid attributes, allowing them to be played using Fighters of either attribute. A lightning spell for example might be Lightning/Magic, allowing you to play it using either a Lightning or Magic-attribute fighter. Hybrid attributes appear as a single circle depicting the symbols of the two Attributes.
    • Cards with a Neutral attribute can be played using a Fighter of any attribute. However, a Fighter with a Neutral attribute can only play cards with a Neutral Attribute.
  • Fighters have Launch and Critical numbers that indicate how much damage they can take before they are in danger of being knocked out.
    • If a Fighter is launched while they are past their Launch threshold, they will be knocked out at the end of the turn unless they recover before then.
    • If a Fighter is launched while they are above their Critical threshold, they will be knocked out instantly.
    • If a Fighter is dealt lethal damage while they are past their Launch or Critical thresholds, they will be knocked out instantly.
  • Each Fighter, Assist, and Boss has a VP value that indicates how many victory points a player scores when they knock that target out. Not all targets are worth the same amount; a stronger target will oftentimes be worth more VP.
  • Most Fighters go to the discard pile when knocked out, however the lead Fighter instead goes to the respawn zone from which they will return to play at the end of the turn.

Abilities

  Reveal hidden contents

Fighters and Assists both often feature abilities.

  • Passive Abilities remain in effect full time.
  • Action Abilities can be used once per turn.

Moves

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Moves are the primary means of attacking and defending. During your turn, you play Moves to attack, while during an opponent's turn, you play Moves to defend.

  • Attack effects are listed next to a sword icon in a red text box. To attack with a Move, turn a Fighter you control with a matching attribute sideways.
  • Defense effects are listed next to a shield icon in a blue text box. To defend with a Move, simply play the Move in response to an opponent's attack; you don't have to turn a Fighter sideways to defend, you only need to control a Fighter with the appropriate attribute.
  • Some Moves have additional modes beyond Attack or Defend. Some Moves may lack an Attack or Defend mode and feature one of these special Modes instead.

Items

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Items can be used to enhance your Fighters.

  • Equipment - These items are attached to Fighters and often have long-term effects. Weapons provide attack abilities while Armor provides defense abilities. To play an Equipment, you turn a Fighter of a matching attribute sideways.
  • Power-Up - These items have short-term effects, typically lasting no longer than the current turn. To play a Power-Up, you just need to control a Fighter of a matching attribute.

Assists

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Assists can be summoned to aid your Fighter in battle. The extra help comes with a risk: Assists have VP values, just like Fighters, meaning your opponent can knock them out and score victory points.

  • Like Moves, Assists have an Attribute that determines who can be used to summon them, though many have a Neutral Attribute that allows you to use any Fighter to summon them.
  • Unlike Moves, Assists can only be summoned by a player during their own turn.

Keywords

  Reveal hidden contents

Keywords are pieces of rules text which describe particular mechanics.

Absorb - An absorbed attack heals the target instead of damaging them.

Aerial - A move with Aerial can only be defended against by a move with Aerial or with Anti-Air.

Anti-Air - The move can be used to defend against moves with Aerial.

Burn - A burned target takes 10 additional damage at the end of the turn.

Combo - A move with Combo can be chained into another move with Combo, provided the followup move can also be played by the Fighter.

Counter - When the user would next be dealt damage by a move or item this turn, counter that attack and deals damage to the user of that move or item.

Dampen - The target's attacks and abilities deal 10 less damage until the end of its controller's turn.

Flinch - A flinched fighter's current move or combo is canceled.

Freeze - A freeze counter is placed on the target and it is turned sideways. If a target would refresh while it has a freeze counter on it, instead remove a freeze counter from it.

Heal N - Remove N damage counters from the target.

Invincible - An invincible fighter cannot be dealt damage.

Launch - When a fighter is launched while they are at or above Launch damage, they will be knocked out at the end of the turn unless they recover. If a Fighter is launched while they are at or above Critical damage, they will be knocked out instantly.

Lethal - If the Item or Move damages a fighter while they are at or above Launch damage, they will be knocked out instantly.

Poison - Damage is dealt to the target in the form of poison counters. At the end of each turn, the target takes damage equal to the number of poison counters on it, then a poison counter is removed from it.

Priority - A move with priority takes effect before a move without priority.

Projectile - The user of a projectile move or item can't be damaged by moves or items defending against that projectile or by attacks the projectile is defending against.

Recover - The fighter recovers from being launched.

Reflect - A reflected projectile deals damage to its user instead of the target.

Stun - A stunned target cannot use moves or summon for the rest of the turn.

Super Armor - A fighter with super armor cannot be flinched, stunned, or frozen.

Supplements

  Reveal hidden contents

These are additional card types that can be added to the game for extra fun and variance.

  • Arenas - Arenas affect the entire field. When the game starts, you shuffle your Arena deck and reveal the top Arena. This is your starting Arena. Over the course of the game, your Arena may change.
  • Events - Events are played automatically, starting with one being revealed at the start of the game. Each Event lasts for a specific number of turns, after which the Event ends and a new Event is revealed from the Event deck.
  • Bosses - Boss cards represent formidable foes who players can fight solo or as a team. Bosses get their own turns, and on each of their turns will use an ability according to their unique ability map. Some bosses may use abilities in a specific order, while others will instead choose an effect based on certain conditions. Some might even act randomly according to the roll of a die. To knock out a boss, you must deplete their HP. When a Boss is knocked out, the player who defeated it scores victory points equal to its VP. If two or more players fought the boss as a team, they divide the VP evenly between them, rounded up.

Turn Order

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The basic turn order goes like this:

  1. The active player refreshes all Fighters and Assists.
  2. The active player draws a card.
  3. The active player may play activate abilities or play Moves, Items, or Assists. Any players being attacked may then activate abilities or play Moves or Power-Ups in response.
  4. Launched fighters are knocked out.
  5. Lead fighters that were knocked out this turn respawn.
  6. Effects that last until end of turn end.
  7. Play passes to the next player in turn order.

Trying to figure out details like starting hand sizes and the ideal victory point target total.

I need to go through and read all of this in order to give a more solid review of the idea, but the basic blurb of Smash as MTG seems intriguing. If you want another source to look at for potential rules/ideas to borrow, there's Iconoclash, it's basically Smash as a board game instead of a TCG, but there should be a decent number of similarities you can pick up from the youtube videos for ideas to swipe.

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There are some similarities to MtG, yes, but I was looking to create a top-down representation of Smash's gameplay in a card game format, so any similarities to MtG or other TCGs is largely coincidental. It comes down to the fact most TCGs have common gameplay elements with different specifics; see Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, both of which have cards comparable to Magic's creatures, sorceries, and so on. Heck, look at Red Dragon Inn, which is basically "Magic but it's about drinking and brawling at a bar with precon decks that are mostly instants and sorceries".

Speaking of RDI gives me an idea for an overhaul to the Smash CG with "Fighter Decks" where each fighter gets their own unique deck of cards representing their moveset, with attacks, specials, throws, and a Final Smash. Items, Stages, Events, Bosses, etc. are sorted into individual decks which are now shared by all players. The core gameplay - rack up damage on opponents and launch them with moves - remains intact, but the attribute system no longer determines what cards are playable in a deck, rather it serves to inform how certain cards interact with one another.

The upside to this format is that the decks are easier to balance, but the downside is there's a lot less room for creativity and there would likely be far fewer fighters made than with the TCG model. Of the two, the TCG model would likely prove more profitable, thereby making it more appealing from a corporate standpoint, but the precon model would be a bit more accessible to players as there's far less deckbuilding involved. There could be custom decks in addition to the precons to allow for a degree of deckbuilding flexibility and thus for a TCG component.

Iconoclash does look interesting. We'll have to pick it up sometime and try it out. Thanks for sharing!

Edited by Lord_Brand
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On 10/17/2022 at 1:33 PM, Lord_Brand said:

There could be custom decks in addition to the precons to allow for a degree of deckbuilding flexibility and thus for a TCG component.

...So the Smash 4 edition then.

If you want a group with some experience doing the "Fighter Deck" idea, I'll happily take another chance to plug for a game, this time Exceed. Think Street Fighter but as a card game(Season 3 actually is Street Fighter). Each character comes with a specific set of 8 Normal attacks that all fighters share, along with 7 Special Attacks and 2 Ultra Attacks, designed of course to represent Special attacks and Supers(so similar to Final Smash). There's about 100 fighters at time of writing, plus an entire community devoted to making Custom fighters, so I think it's safe to say the game is a pretty solid example of preset deck options that offer different takes on similar gameplay styles to ensure there's a fighter for everybody.

We even have Indie Knockoff Samus as a fighter if you want an example. Also Shovel Knight. Loooooots of Shovel Knight.

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7 hours ago, SoulWeaver said:

...So the Smash 4 edition then.

If you want a group with some experience doing the "Fighter Deck" idea, I'll happily take another chance to plug for a game, this time Exceed. Think Street Fighter but as a card game(Season 3 actually is Street Fighter). Each character comes with a specific set of 8 Normal attacks that all fighters share, along with 7 Special Attacks and 2 Ultra Attacks, designed of course to represent Special attacks and Supers(so similar to Final Smash). There's about 100 fighters at time of writing, plus an entire community devoted to making Custom fighters, so I think it's safe to say the game is a pretty solid example of preset deck options that offer different takes on similar gameplay styles to ensure there's a fighter for everybody.

We even have Indie Knockoff Samus as a fighter if you want an example. Also Shovel Knight. Loooooots of Shovel Knight.

By "custom deck", I was thinking something closer to Mii Fighters. The precons would have unique backs and thus couldn't be customized.

Cool to see indies like ARNF! getting recognition. Maybe some of my own characters will one day enjoy that privilege.

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16 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

By "custom deck", I was thinking something closer to Mii Fighters. The precons would have unique backs and thus couldn't be customized.

Right, but in Smash 4 all characters had customizable Special options. Palutena was the only one with full-on Mii-level changes to each move(though Megaman had some that were sort of a similar level), but the feature did exist. You could have a pseudo-expansion where you released the Smash 4 alternate Specials with the same unique backs as the precons, allowing for customization, and implement a rule where both players have to confirm their opponent is using a deck with the correct number of Special Attacks before the game begins to deal with potential cheating.

16 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

Cool to see indies like ARNF! getting recognition. Maybe some of my own characters will one day enjoy that privilege.

Exceed got me to discover Fight, actually, which was great, it's got more hours clocked than everything else on my Switch bar Smash Ultimate, I just started a new file to see how many achievements I could get without ever dying last week. You're planning to do an Indie game, then? Or have you already done one?

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1 hour ago, SoulWeaver said:

Right, but in Smash 4 all characters had customizable Special options. Palutena was the only one with full-on Mii-level changes to each move(though Megaman had some that were sort of a similar level), but the feature did exist. You could have a pseudo-expansion where you released the Smash 4 alternate Specials with the same unique backs as the precons, allowing for customization, and implement a rule where both players have to confirm their opponent is using a deck with the correct number of Special Attacks before the game begins to deal with potential cheating.

Exceed got me to discover Fight, actually, which was great, it's got more hours clocked than everything else on my Switch bar Smash Ultimate, I just started a new file to see how many achievements I could get without ever dying last week. You're planning to do an Indie game, then? Or have you already done one?

I am aware. I missed that in SSBU, even, though I feel more fighters should have had Customs like Palutena and Mega Man, rather than the all-too-common variants like "this version deals more damage, but doesn't go as far" and "this version goes much farther but doesn't deal damage". Mario and Link were especially egregious examples of this, as they had plenty of power ups and items that could have served as good custom options.

I have numerous IPs planned, actually, including one that is basically to Super Smash Bros. what ARNF! is to Metroid or 20XX is to Mega Man. For that matter, I also have a Mega Man-inspired IP that focuses on magical girls and fantasy rather than robots and sci-fi.

Edited by Lord_Brand
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