You Make The Card - Step Four

If you've been following us along our journey each step, you can see that our card is slowly taking shape as you help to make design decisions. First you decided to make a Space unit card, then decided that it should be affiliated with the Dark side. Then in a very close vote, you decided that the Space unit you wanted would be Baron Fel's TIE Fighter (A), a unit previously only seen in the Star Wars Expanded Universe books and comics.

Now comes what we feel is one of the most challenging, yet most rewarding steps in designing cards - the card text (aka: Mechanics or Abilities). In a trading card game, the card text is where you define and redefine the rules of the game. It is where a card finds it's unique individuality and special purpose.

With this step comes not only reward, but responsibility as well. When you create text for a single card, you have to take into account every other card that has been created so that the greater balance of the game stays in check. While there are checks and balances using cost and such to make sure cards aren't too powerful, it's still important to keep in mind how the card will change the feel of the game.

We hope you will take your time to really think out your ideas and submit what you feel is appropriate and exciting! Now, on to the rules!

Submission Rules

If you are interested in submitting a card mechanic, here's the rules you need to follow:

1. Each person may submit up to three card mechanic ideas. After three ideas are submitted, we will not look at any more. So please think about what you wish to submit before blindly sending in an idea.

2. Do not send anything but the rules text for your card. The rules text is what is written in the text box of the card. We do not need (nor want at this point) the card's subtype, speed, flavor text, quotes, power/hitpoints or cost. I will state this last part once again since I don't want any confusion. DO NOT list the cost or stats of the card. We will be deciding this later.

3. Use the letter "F" for specific costs for activations. To separate the mechanic's ability from its power level, we are asking for Force costs to not be specified. For example, if you wanted a card that tapped, spent some Force and prevent all unit attack damage for the turn, you would write "F, Tap: Units do not deal combat damage this turn." We will understand that the "F" stands for a cost. Other costs, such as sacrificing the card, should be listed.

4. Keep it simple. The number one mistake beginners make when designing a card is to make the rules text too long. A good guideline is about 140 characters -- any more than that and there will be no room for quotes (and how fun would that be?) If your mechanic goes much more that 140 characters, it's probably too long. Keep in mind that proper templating might lengthen the text.

We know that the mechanic is not just the heart of the design but also the most fun part. Please enjoy the experience. We're looking forward to see what your collective creativity can generate.