[LaymanK]

How would you guys feel about a cooperative, deck building, Malazan-themed game?

We're in the early stages design of this exciting concept. At the moment it's really just a vanity project blossoming from our intense passion for the creation Mr. Erikson and Mr. Esselmont. At this time (Apr 11, 2012) this is, by no means, any sort of official project, though maybe - with your support - we can change that.

We'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, wishes and whatnot.

Cheers,

Layman Kingsford

[wade]

What do you mean by deck-building? As in a trading card game akin to 'Magic: The Gathering' or 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', or something else entirely? Either way, I like the idea of a Malazan game, irrespective of what it actually is, so I'm intrigued.

[LaymanK]

 the more interesting wade-newb, on 11 April 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

What do you mean by deck-building? As in a trading card game akin to 'Magic: The Gathering' or 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', or something else entirely? Either way, I like the idea of a Malazan game, irrespective of what it actually is, so I'm intrigued.

Deck-building games are sort of the inverse of Magic the Gathering and CCGs. Each player starts with but a few cards and builds their deck as they go. We also envision the Malazan Deck Building game as a cooperative game, meaning that the players work together to overcome the obstacles provided by the game itself rather than vying to defeat each other. Imagine attempting the Siege of Pale with Moon's Spawn hovering overhead and it's all you can do to keep your soldier cards in play and your mage cadres from being burned to a crisp.

Both deck-building and cooperative games are quite the rage in the table-top game world at the moment and they represent the most common styles of games that we (my friends, coworkers and I) tend to play, hence our drive to create a Malazan-themed game of the same ilk.

[wade]

 LaymanK, on 11 April 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

 the more interesting wade-newb, on 11 April 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

What do you mean by deck-building? As in a trading card game akin to 'Magic: The Gathering' or 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', or something else entirely? Either way, I like the idea of a Malazan game, irrespective of what it actually is, so I'm intrigued.

Deck-building games are sort of the inverse of Magic the Gathering and CCGs. Each player starts with but a few cards and builds their deck as they go. We also envision the Malazan Deck Building game as a cooperative game, meaning that the players work together to overcome the obstacles provided by the game itself rather than vying to defeat each other. Imagine attempting the Siege of Pale with Moon's Spawn hovering overhead and it's all you can do to keep your soldier cards in play and your mage cadres from being burned to a crisp.

Both deck-building and cooperative games are quite the rage in the table-top game world at the moment and they represent the most common styles of games that we (my friends, coworkers and I) tend to play, hence our drive to create a Malazan-themed game of the same ilk.

O_O
I like the sound of this. What can I do to help? (I'm inept and very nearly everything, but I'll be willing to help with what I can)

[Salt-Man Z]

@wade-newb: If you've ever heard of the card game Dominion, it's what more or less started the deck-building genre a couple of years ago.

@Layman: I'd love to see a Malazan deck-builder. I've actually contemplated such a beast myself, but never gotten much beyond spitballing some ideas. My (very vague) concept had player playing as gods (of some sort) and competing to put together teams of heroes/ascendants/etc. The goal of the game was never well-defined, but at one point I thought each player should be aiming for recruiting a Mortal Sword, Destriant, and Shield Anvil. The continents would play a part, too, in how character cards came into play or could interact with each other...

[LaymanK]

 Salt-Man Z, on 11 April 2012 - 05:36 PM, said:

@wade-newb: If you've ever heard of the card game Dominion, it's what more or less started the deck-building genre a couple of years ago.

@Layman: I'd love to see a Malazan deck-builder. I've actually contemplated such a beast myself, but never gotten much beyond spitballing some ideas. My (very vague) concept had player playing as gods (of some sort) and competing to put together teams of heroes/ascendants/etc. The goal of the game was never well-defined, but at one point I thought each player should be aiming for recruiting a Mortal Sword, Destriant, and Shield Anvil. The continents would play a part, too, in how character cards came into play or could interact with each other...

@Salt: I like your concept. We are currently approaching the game more or less from the mortal side of things where players are recruiting characters (cards) to overcome various scenarios from the novels. This potentially allows us to bring in all the characters and many, if not most, of the big events from the stories over the course of multiple expansions. We hope to keep as broad a scope as we can, though that causes problems of its own where a singularly focused game concept from one aspect of the novels (such as yours) has a lot of appeal for its more streamlined aspects.

[sappers rule]

Could we use the gods as like this each player picks a god to be aspected to eg you pick fener all marines get 100 extra attack or you pick Hood once per turn revive one card in the graveyard.

also you could use the races for your themed decks eg malazans ,tisti andei endur etc

also each could get special abilities or cards depending on the deck eg malazan get explosives , andai get dragons etc.

all of these are just ideas but i am very excited about this and would love to see this done as i love card games

[Salt-Man Z]

Layman, one thing to consider is expandability, which it sounds like your concept will be well-suited for. For example, your base game could cover scenarios for GotM, while the first expansion could feature many of the same characters and be MoI-based. DG could be another standalone set, with a HoC expansion, etc.

I may have to tinker with my ideas some more. Last time I put any thought into it was back before DoD/TCG, I think, and I was wary about deciding on anything before I know the full scope of the series.

[LaymanK]

 Salt-Man Z, on 11 April 2012 - 07:23 PM, said:

Layman, one thing to consider is expandability, which it sounds like your concept will be well-suited for. For example, your base game could cover scenarios for GotM, while the first expansion could feature many of the same characters and be MoI-based. DG could be another standalone set, with a HoC expansion, etc.

THis is PRECISELY what we have in mind.

I may have to tinker with my ideas some more. Last time I put any thought into it was back before DoD/TCG, I think, and I was wary about deciding on anything before I know the full scope of the series.

[chris777]

 LaymanK, on 11 April 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

 Salt-Man Z, on 11 April 2012 - 07:23 PM, said:

Layman, one thing to consider is expandability, which it sounds like your concept will be well-suited for. For example, your base game could cover scenarios for GotM, while the first expansion could feature many of the same characters and be MoI-based. DG could be another standalone set, with a HoC expansion, etc.

THis is PRECISELY what we have in mind.

I may have to tinker with my ideas some more. Last time I put any thought into it was back before DoD/TCG, I think, and I was wary about deciding on anything before I know the full scope of the series.

Love this idea. When can I play?! Put me on the committee for beta testing!

[Deck of Dragons]

Not a bad idea really and you could literally call it Deck of Dragons and have the cards/houses etc. with the legendary weapons, heroes, and gods!

[wade]

Lord, this is all very exciting stuff.

[glutton]

[/quote]

Love this idea. When can I play?! Put me on the committee for beta testing!
[/quote]

Word. Ping me with any info on how to help. I am almost done with my 2nd read of the entire set of books. I am quite sad about moving on... so anything to keep me in the Malazan Empire would be greatly appreciated.

[sappers rule]

im in aswell

[Obdigore]

This is in the Announcements section and listed on the Forums so I'm assuming it is sanctioned by either Erikson/ICE and their publisher, or whoever currently holds the rights to something like this?

If so, I'd love to help out.

I would suggest having each player choose a patron god that gives bonuses to each card they then play. I need to look more into this whole deck-building genre.

[Puck]

Probably not, though having a concept and a good part of the whole thing done and ready is usually a good way to get official approval. May be a good idea to get this out of the Announcements, though.

Also, while I'm not a card games player myself, I like the idea. I'd be willing to help out with stuff, too.. What I can do, anyway.. Artsy stuff, maybe. Cards need pictures, right?

This post has been edited by Puck: 12 April 2012 - 08:21 AM

[LaymanK]

 Puck, on 12 April 2012 - 08:19 AM, said:

Probably not, though having a concept and a good part of the whole thing done and ready is usually a good way to get official approval. May be a good idea to get this out of the Announcements, though.

Also, while I'm not a card games player myself, I like the idea. I'd be willing to help out with stuff, too.. What I can do, anyway.. Artsy stuff, maybe. Cards need pictures, right?

We'd love to have your artistic abilities and passion for the stories put to good use.

[Spidermule]

What about extending the Graveyard concept of the card games.
Say there is a Karsa Card and he dies (yes yes i know...)
Then you lay the card aside and it takes x turns until the card passes hoods gate.
Meanwhile there is a possibility that the card ascends and gets back to the deck of the original player in a more powerful version.
Meaning that, sometimes entombing the card with a Stone slab, azath card etc. may be the wiser choice than actually kill the enemys character cards.
What say you?

[chris777]

 Spidermule, on 17 April 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

What about extending the Graveyard concept of the card games.
Say there is a Karsa Card and he dies (yes yes i know...)
Then you lay the card aside and it takes x turns until the card passes hoods gate.
Meanwhile there is a possibility that the card ascends and gets back to the deck of the original player in a more powerful version.
Meaning that, sometimes entombing the card with a Stone slab, azath card etc. may be the wiser choice than actually kill the enemys character cards.
What say you?

Oh yeah. I can already see how complicated this game might get. Not saying your suggestion is bad. But this could get pretty hairy.

[LaymanK]

 chris777, on 17 April 2012 - 04:25 PM, said:

 Spidermule, on 17 April 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

What about extending the Graveyard concept of the card games.
Say there is a Karsa Card and he dies (yes yes i know...)
Then you lay the card aside and it takes x turns until the card passes hoods gate.
Meanwhile there is a possibility that the card ascends and gets back to the deck of the original player in a more powerful version.
Meaning that, sometimes entombing the card with a Stone slab, azath card etc. may be the wiser choice than actually kill the enemys character cards.
What say you?

Oh yeah. I can already see how complicated this game might get. Not saying your suggestion is bad. But this could get pretty hairy.

Yeah, there are certainly these themes being worked with. Right now there is one graveyard (dead pile) for all cards in the game and we're calling it Hood's Realm, of course.

The trick to these kinds of games is keeping them in theme with the source material but not running away with the complexity of the game (which, if too complex, would then appeal to a VERY small number of players). Think of it like this, a movie or TV show based on a massive epic (such as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings) cannot possibly stay in budget or in the time frame allotted with out altering details. If handled properly by passionate creators, the movie or show can be just as fulfilling as the original novels. The game will hopefully follow in the footsteps of Peter Jackson and David Benioff/D.B. Weiss.