Civs of Tarkir

[Hoop Thrower]

Dunno what you'd consider "iconic" but there's both a Heart Piercer and a Heart-Piercer bow cards, so that's probably signal that their archers are kinda important here.

I like the ideas BouncyMischa posted for the UUs, Ankle Shanker having Flanking and Charge and a Heart-Piercer unit that does an automatic attack at end of turn at an available unit within range. (I recall an unit from one of LastSword's mods did that.)

 

[Howard Tafty]

Again when i said that I haven't played this in a long time I really have not played this in a long time, the last set I played was Shadowmoor back in 08 and I didn't say my research was extremely in depth, I still think the War Shaman is cooler than Heart Piercers so take that for what you will

 

[TranquilSilence]

Again when i said that I haven't played this in a long time I really have not played this in a long time, the last set I played was Shadowmoor back in 08 and I didn't say my research was extremely in depth, I still think the War Shaman is cooler than Heart Piercers so take that for what you will

Wait, wasn't your shaman part of a Temur design?

Whilst the Heart Piercers are for the Mardu?

There seems to have been some confusion somewhere, especially given that BouncyMischa was originally responding to Hoop's design and not the one you posted

 

[senshidenshi]

I'm quite fond of the Temur design, but 35 combat strength seems a bit ridiculous. Remember that people can still receive Great Generals in the Ancient Era through fighting or the honor tree, and the Shaman is on par with a Rifleman.

 

[NiaoMeow]

All these designs are really cool! I would also suggest that the Necropolis gives faith, as Rakshasas may be hard to get from faith.

I would love to play as these civs, but I don't get any of the references or lore because I don't play magic .

 

[TranquilSilence]

All these designs are really cool! I would also suggest that the Necropolis gives faith, as Rakshasas may be hard to get from faith.

I would love to play as these civs, but I don't get any of the references or lore because I don't play magic .

To be honest, I like the fact that the Necropolis doesn't yield faith and that the Rakshasa has an alternate method of generation as it fits their flavour. The Sultai aren't particularly pious (we have the Jeskai for that), but do need to be aggressive in order to gather corpses and generate Rakshasa, which is pretty interesting. That and Faith from Gardens seems to be done often, it's good to see an alternative.

 

[senshidenshi]

In regards to the Jeskai, I was thinking maybe a University replacement which provides Faith as well as Science, and increases the city's Science production by 50 (or 25)% of its Faith production.

 

[TranquilSilence]

That could work, the effect is pretty similar to the Ayyubid's Madrash so it should be easy enough to code. I like the focus on Faith given that the Jeskai way is based on a monastic order - though I feel they should also get some military bonus asides from the UU to reflect on the Martial nature of their faith. Special promotions to units based on faith output perhaps?

That said, seeing as almost all of the civs will have some focus on combat/killing things, I guess it wouldn't be too bad if you refrained from giving such bonuses to the Jeskai to support a different and varied experience for the player. Furthermore, the Jeskai are pretty much the clan that interest me the least - so I don't hjave many fleshed out ideas on what could be done with them.

In regards to the UU, is it going to be the swiftspear after all or something more outlandish like the various Mantis Riders and such?

 

[Hoop Thrower]

For the Jeskai, I was thinking about getting a Combat Bonus if you were ahead of your opponent technologically or earning Science/Faith when one of your units earned a promotion.

The Jeskai are all about Meritocracy, Discipline and Hard Study after all.

 

[senshidenshi]

For the Jeskai, I was thinking about getting a Combat Bonus if you were ahead of your opponent technologically or earning Science/Faith when one of your units earned a promotion.

The Jeskai are all about Meritocracy, Discipline and Hard Study after all.

We could try to work Prowess in, maybe giving your UUs a combat bonus for 5 turns after a new technology is discovered.

Jeskai is proving to be a bit difficult due to its "more peaceful" nature despite the fact that MTG only really cares about creature cards.

 

[Hoop Thrower]

Nah, not really:

Jeskai
Narset
UA: The Way: Your units gain Double Experience as long as you're the civ with most technologies researched. +1 Science and +1 Faith each time one of your units earn a Promotion.
UU: Seeker of the Way: Replaces Scout. Performs a Ranged attack before entering melee. Has extra combat strenght and Generates Faith from victories on turns you've discovered a technology.Upgrades to Swordsman.
UB: Mystic Monastery: Replaces Library. +1 Science every two citizens. Units trained in city start with extra experience equal to the faith generated in city.

 

[senshidenshi]

UU: Seeker of the Way: Replaces Scout. Performs a Ranged attack before entering melee. Has extra combat strenght and Generates Faith from victories on turns you've discovered a technology.Upgrades to Swordsman.

This seems a bit overpowered. Personally, I was considering making a Swiftspear or Mantis Rider.

 

[Hoop Thrower]

It still replaces scout though, so you'll kinda have difficulty when i comes to them not... dying.

Also, yeah, I'm just kinda more fond of the Seeker, used him more wouldn't you know, but the Swiftspear also has her merit, and makes for an easier replacement unit.

 

[senshidenshi]

It still replaces scout though, so you'll kinda have difficulty when i comes to them not... dying.

Still, in the Ancient Era the world would be dominated by the Jeskai army... of scouts.

 

[Hoop Thrower]

Well, you've got a point there. I'd remove the pseudo-prowess effect, as it's kinda wordy. I mostly like the Scout upgrading into warrior thing because it's a subtle way to make the Jeskai swift and skilled... as it should be.

 

[senshidenshi]

Swiftspear is pretty easy though, and by the time people get Pikemen either they've rushed Civil Service or techs are getting a tad slower.

 

[senshidenshi]

Another thing I'm going to have trouble with is City Names. The capital is vaguely defined for each civ, but the list of cities falls very steeply after that.

So far the capitals I have are:
Abzan: Arashin
Jeskai: Sage-Eye
Sultai: Kheru
Mardu: Wingthrone
Temur: Qal Sisma

 

[senshidenshi]

So, while I wait for either me or someone more talented than me to have a great concept for the three remaining races, I thought I'd whip something up.

Spoiler :

 

[Hoop Thrower]

Checking the Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir gives us somewhere around... 6 cities per civilization.

 

[senshidenshi]

Checking the Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir gives us somewhere around... 6 cities per civilization.

Eh, it'll do. Then I'll just list locations as if they're cities.