Thread: [WB] Design Journal: Khorrim

PART 1 BROAD STROKES To start this project off I want to decide what the overall themes should be for the three separate sets in the block and do some brainstorming. But before we do that the three sets have to have names so we can more easily describe and discuss them. We dont have a name yet for what each set is going to actually be called so, in typical Magic The Gathering fashion, well choose codenames for the three sets. When the designers of actual Magic sets choose codenames they use a unifying theme to link the three set names together e.g., Huey, Dewey, and Lewey. I recently saw Macbeth again so I think that will be the theme for the codenames. One of my favourite lines of Macbeth comes from the witches Double, double toil and trouble. So thatll be what we call the three sets Double, Toil, and Trouble in that order. So now that we know that lets do some brainstorming jot notes. Ive tried to be consistent in writing down my first thoughts but upon reading the jot notes back I had some additional thoughts, expressed in indented bullets likewise, I have gone back through and struck out some ideas I didnt likedidnt think were compatible. A sprawling empire. I would like the focus of the set to be on one sprawling empire that spans the main continents of the game world. A Crusade. The empire will go on a crusade to lands distant to spread religious beliefs, recover artifacts or a third mystery option yet unconceived. Different types of magic. There will be four distinct magical types Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, Psionics and Elemental Magic. Each type of magic will have its own flavour and, in game terms, be activated with different triggers. Arcane Magic vs. Psionics. Id like the main focus of at least one set to be a showdown between these two types of magic, with Arcane magic being the commonplace and Psionics seen as something exotic and dangerous. Goblins. Goblins are my favourite Magic The Gathering creature and Id like to see them get some love in this setting maybe they wont be the founding race who formed the major empire in the game, but Id like them to carry some kind of pivotal or noteworthy role. Holy orders. Tying in with the Crusade theme, Id like there to be Holy Orders who are searching or have found secret relics and treasures. Arcane Shards. Maybe Arcane Shards crystals filled with magic are the thing that sparks the crusade into the Far Realm placeholder name for the place thats far away where the crusades are taking place. Maybe Arcane Shards power the psionic powers of the Far Realms inhabitants, pitting the Arcane magic of the major empire against the Psionic magicpowers of the Far Realm. Decline of Divine. Divine magic and the worship of the Old Gods is declining throughout the realms of the major empire. The Faith based theocracies that used to rule individual kingdoms have been replaced by an empire focused on Arcane magic read science. Arcanix. I had this name for a nation in the first iteration of Khorrim I ever made and I think Id like to bring it back for this for the name of the major empire, which is so dependent on the Arcane arts that it even is reflected in their name. Elemental Magic. Elemental magic is outlawed by Arcanix the major empire because its a dangerous and destructive magic that is practiced only by the elves. Six Five Seals of Khorrim. There are six seals that keep the echoes the planes of existence from where all Khorrims magic comes tied to Khorrim and from colliding into it. There are Five known seals The Seal of Creation White, The Seal of the Wild Green, The Seal of Destruction Red, The Seal of the Eventide Blue, The Seal of the Moon Colourless, and the Forgotten Seal Black. There are five seals The Seal of Creation White, The Seal of the Wild Green, The Seal of Chaos Red, the Seal of Eventide Blue, The Seal of Shadow Black. These seals are represented physically in Khorrim by the five moons that rotate the world. The seals are invariably destroyed at some point by Arcanixs the major empires conquest for power. The Five Echoes.b In Dungeons Dragons there are planar states known as the echoes, of which there are two The Feywild and the Shadowfell. On Khorrim there are five echoes of creation The Feywild, the Shadowfell, the Eventide, the Elemental Chaos, and the Astral Sea. Each of the echoes has a mana type that is most closely associated with it the Feywild is Green, the Shadowfell is Black, the Elemental Chaos is Red, the Astral Sea is White, and Eventide is Blue. Players familiar with Magic The Gathering will recognize Eventide as a previous block. Unfortunately I have yet to discover a better alternative to call the Blue echo of creation, so I have been forced to go with Eventide. I am open to suggestions, but otherwise Eventide is what will have to stay until I think up something more original. Im leaning towards using Arcanix as the name of the plane and finding a new name for the empire. Magic reflected in colours. Maybe the different types of magic should be reflected by the in-game colours of cards Blue represents Arcane magic Red represents Elemental magic, Green represents Fey magic White represents Divine magic Black magic represents Shadow magic and colourless Artifacts et al represents Psionics. Five colour decks. Id really like to see one set maybe the first or the last set be all about five colour decks, the unity of all five colours working together. Return of the Orcs. Orcs in Khorrim have, for a long time, been missing from the world, or the main continents at least they make a triumphant return at an opportune moment to reestablish themselves as a superpower to rival that of Arcanix the major empire. Return of the Old Gods. There were five Old Gods, each hailing from one of the echoes of creation. Thats quite a few things so thats probably a good place to stop brainstorming. Some things that stand out to me are the repeated use of different types of magic. Id really like to find a way to incorporate elements of Dungeons Dragons magic with the different colours of mana that exist in Magic The Gathering. Part of me wants to invent mechanics for each of the different colours of mana to represent the different types of magic, but that seems like both too much work and too complex of an addition to the game when it comes to balancing later on generally Magic The Gathering blocks introduce a single new mechanic, or a new mechanic for each of the three sets that make up the block. I also really like the idea of a crusade, and I think thats going to be a reoccurring motif going forward. The idea of the elves being elementalists is also appealing to me. I like to think of them as out-of-color so to speak. Elves are, and have always been, a creature type that was represented by green mana, but as elementalists that would make them red creatures remember elementalists use red mana. As I think more about it, I might need to rename the different types of magic in the same vein of thought as I named Fey magic, naming them not for the type of magic they wield, but for the seal that they are represented by. This could make things a little bit more complex and differ from Dungeons Dragons more, but it might make more sense. For example, there is more than the element of fire, so having elementalists represented by just red mana wouldnt make too much sense. This leads me back to the aforementioned idea of introducing new mechanics for each type of magic so that the different types of magic arent bound to a single color. Id still like certain types of magic to be more profound in one type of colour, but there should be the freedom for the magic types to transcend colour as well. Alright thats a good start for what I want to put in this world. Not all of these things are likely compatible so Ill have to mull some things over and decide the direction I want to go. Next time, well discuss potential gameplay mechanics for the cards to have to represent these themes and motifs.