Hakhol Starbound: Primer
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| Mechanics | Skeleton | Primer |
Welcome to Hakhol Starbound!
From the ashes of dying planet Hakhol, five caravans of refugees venture into the stars in search of new worlds to call home. While some people are simply along for the bumpy ride, for the five groups that control the motherships, the journey is more than asteroid fields and extraterrestrial beasts. They’re strapped for resources, fighting over unclaimed land, and in some ways, it’s beginning to look like their fellow Hakholnikim are the real aliens.
For now, I’m looking mostly for critiques of the cards I’m making, but I’m very open to suggestions and submissions. This is more fun for all of us if we’re doing it together. Below, I’ve included a quick design primer to catch you up to speed.
Primer
Hakhol (where “akh” is pronounced like the “Ach” in Ach! Hans, Run!) is a wedge set that supports about 10 limited archetypes. Each three-color faction has a custom mechanic, though most are in the prototype stage, and each enemy color pair has an area of focus supported in card design.
The Hakhol Collective, a general-population group who crammed into a massive Worldship, is 
(
). Harsh living conditions before and after landing have pushed the Collective toward strong in-group loyalty, cementing at the same time their resentment toward the other motherships. Their mechanic is solidarity, as seen on First Officer: When a creature with solidarity X attacks, up to X other target attacking creatures have base power and toughness equal to that creature’s power and toughness until end of turn.
The Perilogues, 
(
), are a college of exobiologists and astrophysicists set on mastering new planets with the power of science. While they usually don’t directly interfere with the activities of other groups, they’re a source of frustration for many — mostly because they won’t stop using gene tech to replicate dangerous aliens! Their mechanic is probe, like on Spacejunk Enthusiast; to probe X, you exile cards from the top of your library until you hit X nonland cards, then put a discovery counter one of the exiled cards. You can cast it as long as it has the counter on it.
The Hamodim, (), are a fanatical group of fungus druids, generally down with death and decay, who want to warp planets to their will by shifting the balance of nature. The few planets they’ve landed on are slowly succumbing to mushroom, and other settlers (and the planets themselves!) are going to have to stop them if they don’t want to be shot full of spores. Their mechanic is germinate, as seen on Meadowchoke Thallid. When a card germinates, both players sacrifice a nontoken land, then create a tapped Mycelium land token with “Pay 1 life, 
: Add , , or .”
The Starjockeys, (), are a gang of expert starship pilots who’ve taken their planet’s death as a chance at new horizons. They spend their days almost entirely in the vacuum of space, working for other factions as mercenaries, freight haulers, or anything in between. Their mechanic is launch sequence, an ability word that checks whether you’ve exiled a card this turn. See Anastasia, Starjockey Comet.
The Apostles of Izun, a splinter sect of Hamodim, are (). Months after their arrival on planet Izun, the Apostles were visited by an incarnation of the planet’s spirit, who was being made sick by the Hamodim’s terraforming. Since denouncing the Hamodiim, members of the group have become vehement defenders of the natural order. They are ruthless in attacking any faction who fails to respect the sanctity of a planet. Their mechanic is animus, an ability word that triggers when a creature blocks or becomes blocked. See Paragon of Vehemence.
Two-color archetypes are as follows: RW: Equipment aggro UR: Tempo that relies on casting cards from exile GU: Ramp BG: Graveyard lands WB: Sacrifice matters