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CardName: Challenge # 112 Cost: Type: Challenge Pow/Tgh: / Rules Text: Top-down design: read the description of the world of Danahar and come up with a card that belongs in the setting. Flavour Text: Set/Rarity: Multiverse Design Challenge None

Challenge # 112
 
Challenge
Top-down design: read the description of the world of Danahar and come up with a card that belongs in the setting.
Updated on 07 Aug 2018 by Alex

History: [-]

2014-09-29 02:48:20: Link created and commented on the card Challenge # 112

Magic set are generally either top-down or bottom-up. In a top-down set, everything is conceived beginning with a certain flavor. In a bottom-up set, mechanics come first.

Today, I recalled how I had read that Maro likes the genesis of each magic set to come from a slightly different angle. This challenge was vaguely inspired by that thought.

The idea of this challenge is to approach top-down design from a slightly different angle. Previous top-down sets drew inspiration from tropes (Innistrad) or from real-world mythology (Theros). For this challenge, I've created a rough outline of an original plane, which I've taken to calling Danahar. It's rough on purpose: I've intentionally avoided using any color terms, and I've tried my best to avoid references to land types or creature types generally associated with specific colors. . In fact, I've avoided mentioning creature types almost entirely. I want you to decide what creature types belong on Danahar.
Although there are five "factions," I tried to conceive of them outside relations to Magic colors. If you perceive a faction as possessing certain colors, make that a part of your answer to the challenge.

The idea of this challenge is this: Read the description of Danahar below, then come up with a card that belongs in the setting. When you make your card, be sure to include an explanation for why you've included it, and why you think it fits on this world. Tell us why you've given your card the creature type it possesses. If you come up with a keyword, ability word, or general mechanical idea, explain why! This challenge is all about fleshing out Danahar through the cards.

I don't think we'll come up with a set out of this. The idea is just to have some fun. I hope you like it. :)

Welcome to Danahar.
The vast majority of Danahar’s surface is a cold, flat wasteland scarcely populated by mysterious creatures and bizarre vegetation, known to most of Danahar simple as The Waste. Most life finds the surface inhospitable. However, Danahar is rent by enormous ravines in which life thrives. The climate in the ravines is moist and jungle-like, with breathable air and warm temperatures. Plants, animals, and people crowd into these ravines, and few venture up to the wasteland above.

The people of Danahar are divided into several distinct cultures, listed below.

Teruga is a large city protected by an impenetrable force field of magic and ruled by an Overseer chosen by the Imperious College. The force field forms a bubble that stretches nearly to the top edge of the ravine’s walls, and forms a barrier both to those outside and the city’s inhabitants.

The Overseer, selected during a yearly election by the college to determine the most intelligent and physically fit individual in Teruga, rules the city. He or she decides all laws and holds nearly all the power, with only the Imperious College having the right to veto the Overseer’s actions. Though the Overseer may change, they all hold the ideals of Teruga close to heart, which is another factor in their elections.

Terugans believe in perfection and improvement of body and mind. Strict laws govern the reproduction of its citizens, whose mates are chosen for them by the Imperious College in order to produce the most intelligent, healthy offspring possible. Weaknesses are culled from Terugan breeding stock entirely, either by exiling individuals, sterilizing them, or outright killing them.

People rarely leave or enter Teruga. Expeditions led by members of the Imperious College constitute the only lawful excursions. The goal of these expeditions is to keep Terugan breeding stock fresh, so that the city does not become a place of inbreeding. Fit individuals are forcibly taken from the outside and brought back to Teruga, where they are tested to ensure they will make good additions to the city. The Imperious College realizes that nature has its own ways of improving and perfecting, and the kidnappings are a reflection of that belief.

Also of note is the fact that emotion is seen as a weakness in Teruga. Those who have a tendency to feel strong emotions, particularly love and passion, struggle in Terugan society. Reproduction is never the result of love for Terugans, and love can make it difficult to cull an individual who doesn’t fit Teruga’s strict standards for quality. Terugans who are found guilty of possessing strong emotional urges are generally exiled from Teruga rather than killed, particularly if they possess other, more positive traits.

The Race takes place in Teruga.

Rohn is a city-state that delights in the creation of art and artifice. Rohn is ever-expanding as its citizens construct new monuments and buildings. Architecture and sculpting are seen as highly refined arts, but it is the creation of golems which Rohnians prize above all.

Nearly all Rohnian citizens are attended by at least one golem, generally of their own make, though some prefer to pay highly skilled artisans to craft their golems for them. Golems wait on their masters hand and foot, attending to their every need, and it is said that Rohnians can’t even function without their golem to help them through their day. Rohnians guard their golems closely and never lend their services to others, as it is seen as a sign of weakness if one’s own golem is not sufficient to a task.

Rohn’s police force and military are composed almost entirely of golems, with the only exceptions being the commanding officers. Though Rohn is generally peaceful, they do occasionally need to defend themselves. When a golem outlives its master or a master gets a new golem, the old golem joins either the army or the police force, ensuring that golems rarely need to be commissioned specifically for military use.

Rohnian golems and other artificial creations take on a wide variety of forms. Creativity and ingenuity is highly prized in Rohn, though it is constrained by the guidelines issued by the Aesthetic Senate. The Senate, the members of which are considered the best and most well-respected artists in Rohn, decide what is beautiful and acceptable in art and form. They are, however, rather fickle, issuing new decrees anywhere from every week to every few months. To be behind the times in following the Senate’s rules is to be a laughing stock.

As often as the Senate’s guidelines change, one thing remains true over time. Every individual, whether that person considers himself an artist or not, is expected to make a legacy of some form of art. Monuments to the self are expected, whether that be in the form of a grand, elaborate home, a majestic sculpture, or a golem cast precisely in one’s own form.

Velorn is a city-state ruled by priests and the undead gods they worship. Whenever a citizen of Velorn dies, the priests perform a complicated funereal rite known only to the priesthood. Sometimes, the individual rises from the dead, stronger and more vital even than before, thus becoming a member of the Velorn pantheon. These individuals become known as the Perfected, and their word is law.

The reasons why some people rise to be Perfected and others do not is not truly understood. The priests of Velorn claim that the worthy rise, and will explain no more. It is expected that the citizenry not question the priests’ explanation, just as it is expected for them to never question the commands of the Perfected. Velorn holds strongly to tradition. Its people believe that they way things are done is how they should be done, and that life in Velorn has always been the same way. The rise to Perfected is seen as a natural continuation of the Perfected’s life, despite the rituals the priests perform, as those rituals, too, are considered just another factor in every person’s life.

The addition of a new member to the pantheon is rare, and is accompanied by a month-long celebration throughout Velorn. Revelers dance in the streets, and the new Perfected is showered in gifts as the citizens request blessings from the ascended god. Whether or not the Perfected grants the requests depends on his or her own will.

Perfected have great powers of both healing and destruction, and their bodies do not age. They never tire, so they do not sleep unless, for whatever reason, they desire to do so. The personality of the Perfected varies greatly between individuals. When they rise, they often become embodiments to the extreme of what they represented in life. A person who was somewhat fickle may become a Perfected who allows her actions to be dictated entirely by her whims; a person who respected the laws may rule over his subjects with an iron fist. In the month of revel following a Perfected’s rise, their strongest aspect is ascertained, and the priesthood gives them a name and a domain within the pantheon. Throughout the Perfected’s long unlife, his or her personality never changes from what it was on the first day they rose. Perfected are firm and inflexible in their beliefs, acts, and opinions.

Sahala is not a city-state, but a collection of many villages, towns, and small cities all sharing the common theme of acceptance. They believe that all peoples and life-forms have a right to life, and they seek to make sure this is so. Sahala missionaries roam the ravines, seeking out people in need and often encouraging them to come back with them to Sahala territory after helping out in any way they can.

The Sahala believe that tradition, history, and the preservation of culture is important, even that which is not their own. The Grand Library at Sahalareth, Sahala’s closest parallel to a capital, holds thousands of books detailing the history of the world, as far as it is known. Sahalan scholars roam as wide as their missionaries, studying other cultures are recording them so that their traditions may be preserved for all history. They are accepted nearly everywhere, with only Teruga consistently shutting its doors to them.

Sahalans see beauty in all things, from nature to artifice, and they seek to find a balance between both so that both can continue to grow and thrive. They believe that the creativity of sapient beings is just as important as the beauty created by nature, and wish neither to outweigh the other in importance.

The only things in which Sahalans do not see beauty are death and destruction. Sahalans believe death is a force that should be purged from the world, so that the beauty of a life can continue to exist in perpetuity. Sahalans mourn the death of anyone, saddened by the wisdom and knowledge lost by an individual who passes as much as by the loss of any personal connections they might have had to that person. They seek to preserve life, and physical objects as well. A broken object is a sad thing to a Sahalan, for no one else will ever see that object whole again.

As a result of their beliefs, Sahalan magic focuses on healing and preservation, as well as the prevention of death. Sahalans don’t believe in resurrecting the dead, for the beauty of their life has already been sullied, but they will do anything they can to make sure someone doesn’t die in the first place. When a life can’t be saved, Sahalans may attempt to transfer a person’s consciousness to a special type of crystal, where their knowledge and intelligence can be preserved for eternity.

The Roamers are the final major group of Danahar. They claim no specific place as their own, and in fact, they have little to no organization. They are spread out all across Danahar, roaming from place to place, exploring the world and often discovering parts of it previously unknown to anyone else. Some travel according to their whims and desires, others out of a desire to see new places. The Roamers rarely visit civilized places, preferring to keep to their small family groups, the wellbeing of which they see as far more important than the livelihood of anyone else. When the Roamers do seek civilization, they often bring maps and information to sell. They are more likely to visit Sahalan villages than any of the three great cities, and Sahalan villages are by far the most accepting of them, anyway.

The Roamers are the only ones who dare venture into the Wastes. All other groups of Danahar have given it up for lost, but the Roamer’s perseverance and curiosity drives them to explore the Wastes and discover its secrets. As such, they know more about the Pale Ones, the beasts of the Wastes, than any other group of people.

Once per year, the Roamers gather together at the Roamer’s Meet. There, they exchange information, compare and trade their maps of the world, and, often, marry. The location of the Meet is kept secret from non-Roamers. It is held in a valley separate from the main network of gorges, accessible only through a few small tunnels perilously close to the rim of the Wastes. Roamers reach it either through those tunnels or by traversing a small stretch of the wastes. The Meet is a time of trade, but also of revelry and joy. It is the one time per yet that Roamers let down their guarded personas and find happiness in the company of others.

The Pale Ones are the creatures of the Waste. Most people believe them to be monstrous animals, with little to no intelligence. While it is true that bestial creatures traverse the Wastes, and that many of them are violent, there do exist intelligent Pale Ones. From what little the Roamers have learned about their culture, they are incredibly primitive, but they have at least a semblance of a culture. They seem to fear the lush growth of the ravines as much as the rest of Danahar fears the emptiness of the Waste. The Pale Ones are frightening to behold. Their appearance is very alien when compared to the life from the ravines, and that in itself is part of why most Danaharians fear them.

I'm not sure what I've done here, Alex, but the formatting is now super screwy. I have no idea how to fix it.
Also... sorry for the wall of text, everyone!

Fixed. Your paragraphs were starting with a tab character, which made Multiverse think the text was preformatted.

2014-09-29 09:31:09: Alex edited Challenge # 112:

clarify challenge card

That's awesome.

This is indeed an extremely cool challenge.

I love the description of the world. I've got several ideas, but I'll add them gradually to give other people a chance to post before I take too many of the low-hanging fruit. I'll start with Frozen Wasteland.

­Canyon Homesteader, a Roamer scout.

Slight update to description: Added a single line about the Roamers ("Some travel according to their whims and desires, others out of a desire to see new places.); realized I was missing some capitals.

Thanks for fixing that, Alex. I copied it over after typing it out elsewhere, which is probably where the tabs came from. Also thanks for clarifying the challenge card. I got a little muzzy when it came to making a short description for this one.

I'm glad you guys seem to like it. I was a bit nervous about this one, and it took a bit more work than usual to set up.

­Festival Acrobat, a Velorn who becomes a perfected (a vampire).

­Loyal Golem and Spitting Gargoyle, a pseudo-red artifact creature and spell for Rohn.

Also Formal Challenge, a shock flavoured as a challenge to a duel between rival artists in Rohn.

I'm slowly down my submissions as much as I can! :)

­Roamer Pugilist, a green rootwalla variant.

Two more cards showing how I saw the flavour of Teruga, Tame the Passions, calming people who are too passionate, and Cast Out, exiling in both senses people who don't fit.

­Canyon Crawler, blue roamer.

­Wastelands Wanderer, a 1/1 pale creature from the wastelands with absorb.

Jack V, you're all over this challenge! If you keep going, we might very well have a whole set's worth of cards. :P

­Dirge Leader, a velorn non-perfected priest.

Three cards evoking the Terugan shield, City Shield, and two alternative U-cost counterspells, Xenophobia and Entrance Exam.

For now I have Gathering the Council. I'll probably try some more when I have the time. I wanted to do something based on the Imperious College electing the new Overseer.

Edit: Deadpool Scavenger, Patron Preacher

Edit 2: I worked with Velorn some more and got Whims of the Perfected and took a stab at designing something for the Pale Ones with Ridgewalker Aberration. I feel the Pale Ones are actually the most intimidating to create since they are so alien and unbound by a culture like the others.

Three common staples, Frantic Deactivation, a Rohn smelt variant, Bonebreaking Blow, a normal Rohn-flavoured red burn spell, and Antiquities Collector, a Sahala creature exile-art-or-enchant.

I made Lesser Gatewarden and Sahala Talegatherer, a white vigilance/lifegain creature and a card-draw creature, to round out the ways of showing my version of Sahala culture at common.

Sorrow also made the very flavourful cards, Whims of the Perfected and Ridgewalker Aberration.

Two more Rohn cards, Rohn Prima Donna, a 1/1 with intimidate, and Aesthetic Councilmember, an uncommon hitting the "keep semi-arbitrary artistic decrees" flavour. Also, Canyon Pouncer, a non-Rohn red card from the beasts of the waste.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take this challenge over, there just seemed to be so many good ideas! I would very much like to see other people's ideas, which have been fascinating in exploring the cultures in equally good but different ways to the way I saw them!

This challenge looks really interesting. But I started taking classes about a month ago, and it's absorbing, like, all of my time (which is why I was only able to squeeze one quick article out last month. My book is getting no traction.)

So, I'll be coming back to this later. I just don't want you thinking, Link, that I'm ignoring the challenge because this is all too wordy. I like involved challenges. I'm sure I'll like this when I get around to it.

It is a very wordy challenge, by necessity. :-/

Jack V, I think it's awesome you've been inspired to make almost 30 cards (if I counted right). Keep going! It makes me think the challenge was a good idea. I'll try to find time to comment on each card individually. Of course, I encourage everyone else to submit their cards as well. I won't be making any, at least not for a while, since I made the world.

Served up two for Sahala today Banished from Sahala and The Unending Tradition and another Pale One with Pallid Man-Gnasher. I must say it's interesting me getting into a white mindset from two-cards didn't disappear when going into the Pale Ones, which would be hard to characterize as white flavorfully.

Two more Velorn black pseudo-removal spells, but not quite as elegant as I'd hoped for, Commanding Authority and Drive Mad.

Two more Velorn spells, Funeral Gifts, a removal spell with a bonus, and Drain Dry, a expensive but niche-useful removal spell.

I've created Velorn Command and Terugan Command.

I poured over the flavor I made for Teruga while making Terugan Command, and I tried to find four different aspects of the culture that I created there. It was a happy accident that they all worked so well together and that in fell into the colors others have given Teruga so far.

­Velorn Command came about because I realized I'd made a four-color command for Teruga, and I started to wonder what other civilization might be four colors. Its genesis was far more mechanical than Terugan Command (and more mechanical than it should have been for the challenge), but I think I like the end result, and I think it fits pretty well with Velorn's flavor.

Finally got around to this challenge. After reading everyone else's submissions, two things occurred to me.

1.) Each of these tribes could use a keyword mechanic. A few keywords were tossed around, but besides Jack's use of 'Perfected', and some 'Golem matters' stuff, nobody seemed interested in giving overarching mechanical ties to the five cultures. There's a lot of material to work with, so that makes sense. But I figured it would be nice if each tribe got a keyword to play with, so I've been working on that.

2.) There's been a lot of talk about which tribe is which colors and... I kind of think that's a trap? We've all been playing and designing cards for Magic for a long time, so it's natural that we'd want to assign certain color for certain tribes, since that's what Wizards always does. But, personally, I think the idea of having a set with five tribes that don't tie themselves to any particular combination of colors is refreshing. I don't see why Rohn, for example, can't just have cards of all five colors within its borders. Sure, Rohn could be Red/Blue. But it doesn't need to be. I just think no color identities would be a nice change of pace for a block.

That makes point one harder. I'm trying to find five keywords that both represent the tribe, and could be used, theoretically, by all five colors.
­

And I'm kind of failing? But at least I find the cards to be interesting. So far I've got Journeying Craghorn, Sculpted Sculptor, Everyman Golem and Secreted Curator. I'll be back to make three more cards later.

The first card I designed was based on Terugan lore and how to appropriately put that into card form ( Gathering the Council ), but yeah, it seemed like this moved into the 4 color tribes.

Jack also brought back Absorb for the Pale Ones and I created Frightening for them :p

I probably should have mentioned Absorb and Frightening. I didn't mean to overlook them. But I wasn't clear if it was supposed to be a mechanic specifically for the Pale Ones, or just a good idea in general.

Either way, I'll probably try to take yet another stab at the pale ones. I get the impression that everybody's got a different vague idea of what they should look like. I'd expect to get 10 different designs on those if I showed it to 10 different designers. ­

Added Grizzled Barber to the mix.

I created Pale Warrior, Pale Raider, and Pale Thaumaturge. I think it's funny that I named the place where the Pale Ones live the Wastes when we now have Wastes.

I then made Roamer Bandfather and Roamer Map-Peddler.

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