Monarch Wars: Elizabeth's Wrath

[Whaleyland]

So, after much thought, I finally decided to act and make my own customizable card game. Not that I actually have time to develop it, but since each card takes about 10 minutes to make (after I spent two hours on the template), I figure it is a good filler for when I really don't want to work on my masters thesis (yes, I slack off from my history homework to make a history game...I'm a nerd. Aren't we all?). My first card can be found here: Elizabeth I.

The concept I am working with right now (which really isn't that far along) is that monarchs are played against other monarchs, one-at-a-time, rather like Topps Trumps cards in the UK. It is a bit more advanced, though. Each monarch gains a bonus when fighting their arch enemy (Elizabeth I doesn't get along with Spain) and can do team attacks if partnered with their primary ally (the Dutch for Elizabeth). I still need to work on the point system and general mechanics. I also plan to do something with the royal houses, proto-nationalities, and certain traits (Elizabeth is charismatic, ambitious, and diplomatic). As you can tell, it is in its early stage. Despite the fact that I wanted to work on the British monarchs first, I think I will have to do a broad range right from the onset to make things balanced. Decks will be customized by establishing a specific date and all the monarchs have to have reigns that overlap that date.

The best part is that all the images are from the public domain so no royalties are due if it ever takes off. I plan to expand from the fifteenth century outward to encompass all period, if it ever becomes successful. I also want to keep the monarch traits as accurate as possible, as well as their brief biographies. Images may be hard for some monarchs, but I will have to work with them how I can. Elizabeth was easy, many others will not be.

Please tell me what you think. I don't want the game to be too complicated and it want it to have a historical edge to it, even if it isn't historically accurate in its battling system. Any advice, opinions, or help is appreciated, but don't expect fast progress on this project. Thanks!

[Whaleyland]

As usual for me, I wasn't content with the first draft of Elizabeth, so I created a slightly modified one. Most of it is the same, but some features have changed. Generally, I think it looks better, but it could still use some work. I also now have three cards, showing the range that will be covered. Here are my examples. Tell me what you think:

Elizabeth I
James VI
Rudolf II

[canada steve]

Nice start there but how do you actually intend to use them ? Where are attack points etc ? what would the rules be ?

[Novelty]

Heh, WhaleyInk!  The cards look nice, but the descriptions remind me too much of Civilisation 4 (or was it 5?).  That's not a bad thing though.  However, I think you should confine yourself to developing a single country first, and then later you can add on other countries.

[Whaleyland]

Thanks for the replies. I am constructing rules as I go, and a few things on the card are not finalized, rather placeholders for later decisions. After considerable though, I want the game to run similarly to *gasp* Pokémon Card Game. Not identical mechanics, but similar in that a single monarch "fights" another monarch. The reason that I am not focusing on one monarchy (such as England) is because I need opponents and, except in Civil War, those shouldn't come from the inside.

That being said, I plan to make my "Premiere" deck based on monarchs from the Year 1585. Basically, I will have around 25 monarchs from around Europe (yes, I am starting with Europe, but hope to expand someday). Each card will have a passive and an active "attack" which are only enabled by placing "power-up"-type cards on them (such as Diplomacy or Combat, or something like that). I haven't worked out the Hit points system yet, but it is coming along. Each monarch also has an enemy and an ally, based roughly on their primary national foe and friend during their reign. When fighting against your enemy (attack or defense), you get a bonus. If you have an ally in your hand (Maurice of the Netherlands for Elizabeth I), you can play them to double-team the opponent. Of course, the opponent can do the same thing in response (in fact, I may make it a defensive move, that can be reacted to).

Customizing the deck requires players to use the dates in the top-right corner of the card. To make a deck, a date must be agreed upon and only monarchs who ruled during that time period can be used. The only exception is that an heir of a monarch from that period can be included in a deck, but it can only enter play if replacing a monarch from that time period (Philip III could replace Philip II, but Philip II must be placed in play first). Obviously, I need to make about as many Action cards as monarchs, as well as the power-up cards, but I am working on the monarchs first.

The game will expand as more monarchs, before and after 1585, are created and released. Other historic figures will appear as Action cards with brief historic descriptions, but will otherwise be rather generic (I can't make everything a character). Shakespeare will probably be "Aspiring Playwright" which gives a cultural bump in some attack I haven't yet made up.

The cards look nice, but the descriptions remind me too much of Civilisation 4

Good, you noticed. There is only so much you can write in five short lines of text about an important person's entire life, so they often do appear the same across many genres. I did get a lot of influence from Civ4 for this, but the game won't follow that game very closely, except maybe in personal traits and card colours (Spain is Yellow in both and I rather prefer it that way).

[metoth]

I like what I see so far.  We homeschool our children, and my one son is a history nut.  I could see us playing a game like this. 

Marie

[Whaleyland]

As I continue to push off my foreboding thesis, I have re-worked much of the design for the Monarch Cards, designed the Trait Card (which still need some work), finalized the Card Back (which will be constant for all cards), and begun formulating more of the rules. The only card design I have left (for now) is the Action Card. I won't post my draft rules yet as, basically, they aren't even near cohesion and I still have some contradictions and am trying to determine what mechanics are copyrighted by Wizards, Decipher, and whoever makes Pokémon. Basically, I am trying to create a game that could be commercially sold and I don't want to get into any legal entanglements in the future (I know, I am very optimistic since I finally found a way to have a monarchy card game). Also, the subtitle for this expansion won't be Elizabeth's Wrath anymore, but rather something like The Unsaid War.

Most importantly, though, I have determined how Hit Points will work, or rather "Life" value. Basically, for every 5 years a person reigned (not lived), they get 10 Life points, rounded up. Thus, someone who ruled for 7 years gets 20 Life (10 for the first 5 years, 10 for the remaining 2). This creates the problem that some monarchs have very little "Life" while others, such as Elizabeth, have up to 90 Life. But I plan to balance that somewhat (although not entirely, since longer-life makes them more valuable) by making their abilities more expensive. Also, all active Monarchs lose 1 Life per turn, regardless of anything, to represent aging. I don't think this mechanic has ever really been used before in a CCG.

Finally, I have some new samples for you all. I removed the old links, since they were outdated, but have made a new version of Elizabeth I, as well as a sample Diplomacy Trait Card and my Card Back and logo. Please tell me what you think. I need to work on some homework now...sigh...

[Whaleyland]

I just keep chugging out improvements. I guess it is because these cards require good-looking templates to work from and I really don't have tons of time to tweak each future card individually, so I am trying to make a perfect template from the very beginning. Please tell me if anything seems amiss.

I have two new drafts to present for critical review:
1 – Elizabeth I, Queen of England & Ireland (Monarch Card version 4)
26 – Provincial Rebellion (Action Card version 1)

[Novelty]

Wasn't QE1, Queen of England, France & Ireland (or at least that's what she claimed to be?).  The claim to the Queen of France only got dropped after the Act of Union with Scotland IIRC.

[Whaleyland]

Indeed, she was and it wasn't actually dropped until the Act of Union with Ireland, during the Napoleonic Wars. However, for practical purposes, since some of these monarchs can claim many countries that they don't actually have any authority in, I've decided to drop pretentious titles, unless they are especially relevant. It wasn't an easy decision, but I think it is the right one. For many of these monarchs, I will be forced, out of space considerations, to only choose certain titles for them. If they pick up additional titles during their life, I may make multiple versions of them, but all titles earned at the same time will lead to only one Monarch Card.

Thus:
Elizabeth I, Queen of England & Ireland
James VI, King of Scots –> James I, King of England & Scots
Charles III?, Duke of Burgundy –> Charles V, King of the Romans –>Charles I, King of Spain & the Romans (the latter two being Electors)

[Novelty]

How about subsidiary titles, e.g. Elizabeth I, Duke of Normandy or Lord of Mann, etc.?

[Whaleyland]

Oh, how many of those there would be for people like Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. I could definitely make cards that are just a specific subsidiary title. As it is, I am not making any Holy Roman Emperor cards, just King of Bohemia & Hungary (at least for the post-Charles V Habsburgs). Imperial Elections are an Action Card an any active monarch can be elected emperor, assuming they have enough electors to support them.

The real problem with subsidiary titles is that, unless they were held by the monarch before they became monarch, they usually remain just subsidiary. I mean, when was the last time a Prince of Wales used the title Hereditary Steward of Scotland? Sure some titles have more power than others. The Habsburg kings of Spain were also Dukes, Counts, and Lords of the Low Countries (or at least Belgium-region after 1580), which definitely provided them with power. In the end, I think I am going to have to stick with major titles, and introduce earlier titles if I feel they are necessary. The game is suppose to be roughly historically accurate but that doesn't mean that it has to give an intellectual overload. Most people in English countries don't know most of the kings of Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Russia, etc, so it is optimistic enough that they learn those names. I hope that maybe I can introduce some subsidiary titles not used on the Monarch Cards as Actions or mention them in the biographies, but I am not going to go out of my way to teach people that the Archduke of Austria was also the Count of Styria.

[Novelty]

OK, how about when you get to (was it?) Victoria.  Would she be Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland, Empress of India or would there be 2 separate cards for that?

[Whaleyland]

I'm still contemplating how recent I will bring the game. Perhaps to the nineteenth century. For Victoria, I would probably just include Empress of India with her other titles, although I would definitely mention it. While she picked that title up in 1876, Victoria had very little personal authority in India and it is arguable if the title was anything more than a titular one based on the overthrown Mughal Empire. Her card, if ever made, would probably be: Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom & Ireland, Empress of India (and the dates of her reign would coincide with the first title). I must admit, though, that is a really long title so I'd have to see how it would work in the space provided.

[Whaleyland]

So, I have been working on the cards. I already have 18/25 Monarch Cards completed as well as the text for pretty much all the Action Cards (I don't have the art or captions for most of them, though). I also have completed the 6 Trait Cards. That brings me to 60 cards, which is what the initial deck is suppose to have. However, I have run into a problem which I would like some help with. Most of the monarchs only have one or two titles, so fitting them all on a line is not very difficult. The Habsburg emperors, however, are not so easy. Perhaps strangely, I am not using the title Holy Roman Emperor since Imperial elections are a mechanic I am using with some of my action cards. Sure crowning Queen Elizabeth I as Emperor is not historically accurate, but technically it could be done if the Imperial Electorate chose to do so, hence the reasoning.

This, however, has stranded me in a corner with the Habsburg emperors. What title are they most famous for? I have established that their most important titles (other than emperor) are Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary. But that fills the text line to the brim and looks messy. Right now I have:

Rudolf II – Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia & Hungary

But it is too long and has too much. I tried changing it to:

Rudolf II – Archduke of Austria

But that seemed to be missing something. Technically the most important title the dukes held as King of Bohemia, since that is what gave them their vote in the Electoral College. However, the title is not even considered a part of the Empire, it just gave them votes in the election, nothing else, making it seem pretty worthless of a title outside of Bohemia. King of Hungary was a powerful position, but again it places the Habsburgs in the Eastern circle, when during this time they were teetering in both the Central and Eastern circles. What do you people recommend? Or should I change a mechanic and have them be emperors after all, foregoing my current mechanic for Imperial Elections?