Clockwork Wings: Recent Activity
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Recent updates to Clockwork Wings: (Generated at 2025-08-09 05:52:23)
I had indeed planned that the power types would be each associated with two colours. Steam
and Electrical 
are obvious. My correspondence beyond there would be Chemical 
, Radiation 
(including beams of light as well as Irradiate), and Torque as 
kinda left-over, though they are the two "untap" colours which helps with the "spinning" feel for Torque.
I could do things like make the power pool empty at different times than the mana pool, or behave differently in other ways. My current plan is that it'll behave similarly to the mana pool to increase intuitive comprehensibility. Alternatively, I could have it that when something gives you power, you need to spend it immediately - the very next ability you activate - to increase the feeling of these machines being connected together: if you let that steam or light-beam escape, it won't still be there an hour later to power the second half of your Doom Assembly.
Steamflogger Boss is a challenge. Hmm, I'll have to think on it some more. Connector doesn't sound too bad. Could you give an example?
Some thoughts on the power types: Why not make each power type correspond with two enemy colors?
: Steam, i.e. Steam Vents, Izzet Boilerworks
: Radiation, i.e. Irradiation
: Chemical, i.e. Evolution Vat
: Electrical, i.e. Lightning Helix, Intimidation Bolt.
: Torque
Not too sure about torque being
. And if not 
as Radiation, then certainly 
, my thinking was that Green likes to grow, and Black likes making things sick. And as for Chemical being 
it just feels right to me. :D
Anyway, I think your power types have potential, and flavor-wise, are pretty cool. How will one keep track of them? WIll they disappear like mana at the end of phases/turns? Or would they be accumulated i.e. 'they don't empty from your power pool'?
I don't think there's any point making Contraptions if you don't make them work with Steamflogger Boss. Steamflogger Boss is the reason and inspiration for Contraptions; what's the point in giving him errata? His wording is actually quite difficult to make something sensible work with, but that's the challenge; I can't see any point making something that "almost" works with Steamflogger Boss. Other people are welcome to, but it's all-or-nothing for me with Contraptions.
As for plugging artifacts together like equipment: heh. That's another of my ideas, heading for the same kind of feel, but with a different mechanical approach. The equipment-for-artifacts is a fun idea - I was going to call it Bolt-On, but my wife suggested the much better name Connector. The question is, what do you make them do? Almost all Equipment either modify power and toughness, or interact with combat in some other way. Fortifications were a great idea for one card (Darksteel Garrison), but they have the same problem if you try to make twenty of them: what do they do? I actually do have a plan for how to make Connectors relevant and present in enough quantities in the set, but I'd be curious to receive your thoughts, since our ideas have rather paralleled each other so far :)
And the different power types are like five more colours of mana, yes, except they go in your power pool. This would let me do things like make the power pool empty at different times than the mana pool, or behave differently in other ways, but I probably want to make it behave similarly to the mana pool to increase intuitive comprehensibility. It's basically five more mana types, to let the players plug lots of different artifacts together to transfer power between them and assemble random fun machines made of several artifacts to do something random.... a bit like what a contraption might be ;)
Wording: I think Steam Flogger Boss could be given errata, or we could work around it. Steam Flogger Boss aside here is my take on it.
Assemble
(Attach target artifact you control to target Contraption you control. The Contraption has all abilities and types, and combined power, toughness, and converted mana cost of each artifact attached to it.)
Thanks for the comment! I've been definitely considering what to do with Contraptions. The biggest problem is that Steamflogger Boss's ability is a replacement effect, so "Assemble" can't be targeted for the Boss's ability to make sense. I did have an idea that it could be a nontargeted version of what you describe:
, 
: Assemble a Contraption from two artifacts you control. (Attach them together. The Contraption is a single artifact with the total abilities, types, power and toughness of all component artifacts.)
The normal solution to Contraptions is to have them be tokens: Assemble - When ~ ETBs, put a Contraption artifact token onto the battlefield with "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this artifact unless you pay
."
Sacrifice a Contraption: Tap target creature.
The version I think I prefer, though, is this:
Assemble -
, 
: Search your library for up to one Contraption card and put it onto the battlefield.
Future Sight's Steamflogger Boss says "Other Rigger creatures you control get +1/+0. If a Rigger you control would assemble a contraption, it assembles two contraptions instead."
However there are no current 'contraptions' (even though it is an artifact type) and 'assemble' is undefined.
I suggest something along the lines of:
> GenericSignet
: Add 
to your mana pool.
>
> Artifact - Contraption
>
and
> IcierManipulator
: Untap target artifact.
>
> Artifact - Contraption
>
> Steamy Flogger
,
: Assemble a contraption. (Attach target contraption you control to target artifact you control. The attached artifact is a contraption in addition to its other types and has the abilities of each contraption attached to it.)
>
> Creature - Goblin Rigger Artificer
>
So if you attached IcierManipulator to GenericSignet you get a contraption that has:
: Add 
to your mana pool.
: Untap target artifact.
That's just an idea though. If you like it let me know.