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#1
Kalam Mekhar

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So I've been working on a custom set or three over the past few years, and one recurring thing I've noticed is that I have a lot of cool ideas, but no big overriding theme driving the design. I feel this is a problem because having a strong theme is important for narrowing your ideas down into just what the set needs, and not have it feel like just a pile of random cool stuff, which is what most of my sets have been so far.

 

I was hoping some of you guys may have some themes, world ideas, or mechanical focuses (focii?) that you'd be willing to share. If I end up working on any of them, I'll make sure to let you know and perhaps we could even work together on the project. Any feedback is appreciated.



#2
Guest_SupremeKrenko_*

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Deciding for a flavor is not that hard; Just take ANY stereotypical fantasy setting and do, as MTG does: Make it rock, find a bunch of strings, and pull out the originality with them.

Some ideas for Settings: Pirates, Vikings, High-Fantasy, Trash-Fantasy, Egyptian/Babylonian/Assyrian mythology, and Cyberpunk.

Other than that, it is impossible to help you with the mechanics, without having the world or factions fleshed out.



#3
Kalam Mekhar

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Thanks for the input, Krenko. I did some more thinking on the matter, and I think part of the problem is I'm trying to build a Magic set on a pre-existing world that I created for roleplaying and my novels. I've only ever completed one set, and that one just didn't feel connected really. The problem is Magic is all about resonance now, so each world they build (or at least most of them) has this strong flavorful thing that most people are familiar with that gives it its richness and focus. Innistrad was about gothic horror, which most people have at least passing familiarity with, and now Theros is Greek mythology. Same thing applies there.

 

I feel like if I build sets on worlds I create that don't follow a huge, well-known trope like those, it just feels like an older Magic expansion like Mercadian Masques or even Odyssey, where it was on a totally random world that was just kind of stereotypical fantasy. That's pretty much what my worlds feel like to me. That's alright, I suppose, but it just doesn't feel like a modern set. But I have this really cool story I want to tell and the world I made perfectly suits it. It just isn't a world that's going to feel very recognizable because people won't know anything about it.

 

But ultimately, I guess even that is a good enough starting point for a first real crack at a set. I shouldn't expect it to just be amazing I suppose. And being a one-man team, while it gives me some control that I may not otherwise have, also makes it a ton of damn work, since I like to follow a design skeleton and be all semi-pro about it. But oh well. I have the white commons and some of the red and green ones done, so I'll probably make a topic about the world and whatnot and start posting the cards fairly soon.

 

By the way, what is trash fantasy?



#4
Guest_SupremeKrenko_*

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Trash-Fantasy sounds rather harsh, almost offensive, but it's actually the most accurate way of describing the two different classical styles of Fantasy:

High Fantasy, like Lord of the RIngs for example, is an epic, presenting the story of a journey, a task fulfilled by the heroes; It's (for the most part) incorporating magic as a lead theme, and often treats the search for a magical place/object as main plot. It's by far one of the oldest ways to tell a mythical story. Just look at King Arthur! The guy and his roundtable-boygroup are just another medieval fellowship, searching for the holy grail, while having their own little adventures.

Low Fantasy, on the other hand, is often about a single character, on his own far less impressive quests. Although not necessary by any means, the Low Fantasy-Hero often relies on his Sword (or whatever weapon of his choice) fighting off whatever evil stands in his way. Although Side-characters do occur from time to time, they do not take too much focus from the protagonist. The strict following of this rather simple formula gave this genre its name.

A basic example of this genre would be Conan.

 

It's not bad by any means (just a misleading nickname for the genre).



#5
Kalam Mekhar

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Ah okay, thanks for the clarification.



#6
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If you're looking for suggestions, my next set was going to be European medieval fantasy, a theme I have yet to see in MtG. I mean things like knights, ladies, serfs, squires, giants, etc.
Something along the lines of King Arthur and the knights of the round. Message me if you're interested.

#7
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Reminds me of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, two sets with a strong background of old English folklore, even with some Celtic influences. But there were no humans at all, so I'm quite interested to see what you are going for when including them.



#8
Oberon

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I once made a set that was set in a camelot like plane. It worked super well, and there are so many things you can do on that theme. I'm surprised it hasn't been used in mtg yet.






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