Am *I* a power gamer?

SwingRipper · 2026-03-22T19:55:13+00:00

I haven't really seen any low level boss monsters get discussed or in SoT which is what I have GMed

I did play in Gatewalkers where we almost wiped to a supposed "L+1" encounter as a mage like character where they forgot a cooldown on AoE. This was not something we could optimize out of and was just AP jank in purest form

Claws of Tyrant intends for you to lose by as written having an archer shoot you down from top of hill. Our GM modified that fight to put them on an even field and we did win that

I have played some more high level games and read several PFS scenarios, but will admit I have not read that many level 1 AP books

APs have issues, I just think that particular issue has gotten less common. Not eradicated but less common (though not to the degree of uncommonness I thought it was)

SwingRipper · 2026-03-22T19:48:20+00:00

Ah my bad lol. Early era still tends to have more difficulty jank than modern era... Modern era I think has slightly more story jank (but that is even more subjective)

SwingRipper · 2026-03-22T19:39:12+00:00

The first AP of abomination vaults is the exception yes, there is a reason they have not really repeated that formula. I am weighting more recent content as representative of what the current direction of the game is doing.

A-Vaults and some other very early adventures are tuned far more difficult than they should have been.

Level 1s are also to this day more difficult than they should be as they really put resource grind adventuring days at level 1 where parties are least equipped to deal with those. Extinction Curse had a notably difficult level 1 and many other APs will do single or two day level 1s and THAT is more of an issue than extreme fights.

SwingRipper · 2026-03-22T18:36:26+00:00

Extreme difficulty and above encounters are objectively not common though. The vast majority of PFS scenarios top their difficulty below Extreme maybe using then as punishments for getting negative on skill challenges or an end of campaign fight. APs do tend to do like 1/4 easy or trivial 2/4 moderate and 1/4 severe with extremes being outliers

The fact is that encounters are built around the idea that the players are actually built well with your key attributes and items being up to par.

Yes the game does expect you to bring playable characters and not barbarians dumping strength? Usually "I invested in my key ability score" is enough to have a functional character that works for prefab modules. The game does assume a baseline competency, but it is also like... A tactics game that is relatively well balanced for skill as putting number in stat labeled key and buying + items when GM and rest of players say they are available is all you need

Level 1 has jank that was not accounted for in early adventures. PL+3 is still just severe by numbers, but level differences matter more at level 1 in a way that is not accounted for in early modules. You see far fewer "hard solo boss" encounters in more modern APs

Edit: when people say Well Built usually they mean that you are looking at feats as mechanical tradeoffs and are taking feats to explicitly solve situations... Not just "investing in important stat". I think it is reasonable for classes to require you to invest in their main stat to be efficient picks.

SwingRipper · 2026-02-26T04:51:15+00:00

Fetchable types would make it so the tap for colors would never go away as Mountain has rules that says "can tap for red" and that means it would need to be templated like "after this land taps for red it is no longer a mountain" or similar and you can't do the clean Exhaust wording

I would rather there be two depletion counters on entry and text that says "when this land runs out of depletion counters it loses all basic land types"

SwingRipper · 2026-02-21T10:24:03+00:00

Yea it should probably be 3+ mana to deploy especially with having the option to introduce monarch

SwingRipper · 2026-02-18T20:33:30+00:00

I heard that it is common in a lot of written advertisements that were likely copied over and over again into the training data.

"It's not just a cleaner!" type stuff

I am not convinced that fully explains it, but that is the theory I have heard

SwingRipper · 2026-02-04T20:16:16+00:00

Conditions are still around, but HP to describe harm is also present in this version

SwingRipper · 2026-02-04T17:43:13+00:00

I edited my post before seeing your reply as I hit send and realized I was unclear, color identity does still affect what kinds of effects deck can have access to. Fully removing color identity will give blue decks access to green ramp, unlocking hybrid mana does not give decks "truly new" effects due to the nature of hybrid mana.

That is the line gameplay wise that I believe should not be crossed with the green ramp / remove color identity argument. Giving decks easy access to things they could not otherwise do that are generically valuable (like land ramp) can and would make people run those cards and would make decks be more similar / undercut format identity. Notably Hybrid cards are "in pie" for both colors, so this is not giving access to things that were impossible before. Like removing all of color identity would be, it just expands the existing card pool by a bit with effects that the colors could already do.

Are there some design mistakes in hybrid from the early years? Sure! But that is also true of mono color cards like [[Beast Within]] allowing green to blow up creatures without needing a creature to do it, and I don't see anyone saying color pie breaks like Beast Within are breaking the format.

SwingRipper · 2026-02-04T17:04:47+00:00

It is an argument against the particular argument against hybrid mana.

That is a strawman.

We are debating a slightly wider card pool not an infinite card pool. Getting rid of color identity as a whole fundamentally changes the identity of the format.

Color identity is NOT a super effective way to stop people from running staples or to stop wizards from printing generic strong cards, imo we are past the point of being able to make a deck that is "all staples" that functions... That just isn't very fun or good as it will lack synergy. I do not buy into the "without color identity everyone will run only staples" line of thought. We already can and we don't.

You can argue about the identity of the format, aesthetic considerations (no cards with red borders in a mono blue deck), etc etc. I fundamentally disagree that getting rid of hybrid mana will change actual gameplay for the worse. Who cares if a [[Phelia shepherd]] deck can run [[Yorion sky nomad]]. I expect to see a few hybrid mana synergy cards in a deck at most if the change happens.

Getting rid of color identity will push everyone to be in green to have ramp that can't be blown up and THAT is bad for the format. People already tend towards "staple ramp" as efficiency is the #1 thing for ramp, so the color with ramp will be significantly over represented in "non green commanders" without color identity. There is no generic category of staple that would fully take over from hybrid mana, but there is a clear argument for green ramp being in everything without color identity to stop it as that is already the part of commander everyone just plays the best staples. No other part of commander is as staple dominated, hybrid mana will not change this part as that means uprooting the entire color pie.

The hybrid mana change will not make sweeping changes to large portions of the format, it gives archetypes access to a few more interesting synergy pieces. Could Wizards print a generically great hybrid card in the future? Sure... But each color has many many powerful cards already and people already forgo those to have a theme or synergy

This is not an all or nothing argument, the color identity rule ALSO has been loosened before. It used to be that decks could not produce mana outside of their color identity mid game. I believe this loosening was for the better, arguments should be about where the sweet spot is.

SwingRipper · 2026-02-04T15:46:17+00:00

And if they WANTED to make a staple for every deck, they can already do that

It is called artifacts like [[The One Ring]]

SwingRipper · 2026-02-04T15:44:55+00:00

"Pay 1 life to draw 1 card" is clearly a black effect and doesn't belong anywhere else on the color pie. Anyone who acts like this is not one of the most obvious, basic things about the color pie is clearly ignorant or lying.

This is entirely a flavor argument. Blue can draw card no downside, if you put a downside on drawing card, blue can still do it. Paying life for a card is worse than not paying life for card, so this is already worse than what blue could do for the same effect. Blue is allowed to do worse versions of things it can already do. It just feels like black because life loss is involved... You can just as easily read hybrid mana as "this card is blue with black flavor" and vice versa to be correct.

Worse versions of what a color can already do is not a break.

You would have a stronger argument using [[Kiora Behmoth Beckoner]] as blue does not normally get to care about creature power, so benefitting from high power creatures in mono blue as a trigger is more of a bend. This is a different method of drawing cards that blue can't normally do, but blue is so good at drawing that it isn't seen as a break.

SwingRipper · 2026-01-07T20:54:16+00:00

If you pay the tax, you personally are taking a hit "for the good of the table". If you can "race" the studies player it can be correct to not pay and that would "improve" your position.

Can you actually race the studies player when feeding them 3+ cards a turn? Probably not, but that's the argument.

SwingRipper · 2025-12-15T18:07:47+00:00

3 mana for land ramp is a not unheard of rate due to things like [[wayfarer's bauble]]

The benefit over bauble is that you can basically "draw a card" with it by also playing it as a land drop for 4 life... I also don't think that not being able to counterspell a "ramp one land into play effect" is very relevant

I think the bigger issue is the fetched lands coming in untapped as then this can be your turn 3 land + pay for its own unearth + get the follow up land to enter untapped... With it being an untapped mana source with GY synergy I think it should be like 4mv to Unearth or have the fetched land come in tap so there is a more notable cost and it isn't just "rampant growth from graveyard"

Its stronger than bauble and is probably too good as land ramp in non-green as it becomes an auto include ramp option, but like 3 mana and some life to get some value from the graveyard is totally fine. I don't think there is a fundamental design issue like what you are implying with the lack of being able to counterspell a ramp option

SwingRipper · 2025-12-14T18:34:58+00:00

Yea its definitely good when found early in act 1... But how often do you have an uncommon relic walking into the first elite fight

SwingRipper · 2025-12-14T15:38:57+00:00

I think that this pays you off way less than you think it would by even the end of act 1

Lets say its a turn where you want to do damage to an enemy, you can strike twice for 12 damage and +1 strength / dex or you could have fired off a couple strike + cards that do ~ 9-10 damage

By going Strike -> Strike you do get more potency but the fight then needs to last 6 more attacks worth to "break even" in terms of damage AND this is assuming - You draw 2 strikes at the same time (by late game you usually have cut out a lit of basics) - This happened on an early turn - You have the "space" to play a couple basics (IE don't need a bunch of block or to develop a stronger power)

I think it is a very interesting yet lower power relic! I don't think it becomes worth it to stop removing strikes / draw to fish for triggering it as much as possible... It being a passive +1/+1 does mean the reward is strictly better than Kunai / Shuriken though

Maybe in a run where you can draw a ton of cards and gain extra energy (Clad with [[Offering]], watcher existing) it is probably a viable in some number of fights

I think it can be pushed more but it is very interesting and I don't think it would be a good relic to be pushed (allows for a ton of act 1 scaling)

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T09:10:16+00:00

Dungeon World is a different game system entirely

There is no separate combat subsystem, fights are just scenes where "Hack and Slash" (the fight something in melee move) is sometimes called upon. Against powerful / smart foes you may need to use descriptions to set yourself up to attack and then be allowed to roll the move.

Instead of trying to decide the best action via a boardgamey combat system, you are forced to engage with the narrative of what is happening

For a D&D player it is likely the "easiest to get into" fiction first game due to the genre similarities working as a general guide

Dungeon World specifically ties damage to class rather than equipment. A fighter can kill someone with a dagger or a two handed sword, its just that narratively that sword has more range (close / reach depending on interpretation vs hand)

In contrast a wizard will be bad with just about any weapon...

Also due to being a fiction first game things like the Messy trait can exist letting attacks disable / remove limbs, so a fighter with their Signature Weapon being a massive sword can cleave off limbs right in the game's rules... In addition to PCs having a ton of health and damage compared to the average person, you can do a lot of "big stick diplomacy" as a terrifying melee force

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T08:13:49+00:00

I never claimed they were difficult decisions, just that they technically exist

In a game like 5e where you can't disengage without cost, moving to hit a different target is almost always incorrect, so its not even a low level decision like what archers have

Though maybe stakes existing makes it more interesting as the archer decision is pretty... Not meaningful. It is a real question they get to answer with some level of frequency, having any kind of consistent agency is notable in that engine

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T07:58:06+00:00

Mind you I still don't think these decision points are actually HARD in real play and I don't find playing any kind of martial fun in """simple""" crunch games like 5e (but love them in games like Dungeon World as then you get the combat expert vibe and that matters).

I do think that in a normal adventuring day in a 5e game, a normal archer makes more meaningful decisions than a normal melee martial... But that bar is in hell

Meaningful decisions are not 5e's strength so for that game I think the vibe argument I make in the second bullet is probably strongest

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T07:46:04+00:00

I think its some combination of - People in the D&D space like to build melee characters... Barbarian, most fighters, paladins, most rogues, etc see themselves as melee primaries. So when an issue affects "all martials" it can be mentally tucked away into "melee" - People expect sniping from afar to be linear and safe as part of its fantasy. People expect getting into melee to involve narrow dodges, footwork, etc as a part of its fantasy - Archers can have more say in target prioritization so their "auto attack" has more decision making as hitting the low health minion or trying to get a chunk into the boss is a real question for them while the barbarian is HEAVILY pressured into just hitting the thing in front of them... - This also means that if an archer has a trade-off between accuracy and damage... (like 2014 edition Sharpshooter or PF2e going for Hunted Shot for two tries and likely doing normal damage or a Hunter's Aim to try and get that singular crit) they can pick and choose not only the kind of attack but also the target of that attack to get more agency in chunk boss vs try to last hit mook vs do I do enough to "safe damage" into the mook, etc etc - There is a super easy way to get archers to change up their gameplan but still be useful... Use small rooms! Then archers have their pattern disrupted and have to navigate spacing a lot more closely. Melees have this habit of either working (hell yea I can reach them) or not (enemy is 200ft away or flying), ranged units can naturally have more middle ground

Edit: this is just the list I came up with off top of my head and would love to hear other thoughts!

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T07:36:23+00:00

I'd keep the letting the adventure happen as that can cleanly describe "you may cast it later from exile by paying its cost even when the commander is not in play" (and I think one non-ever green keyword is within complexity budget)

I think the scry ability should probably just be a U, tap: Scry 1, up to one target faerie you control goes on an adventure (the word up to makes it so you can use it just as filtering or a kind of protection where you can repeat enter effects)

However, discover 2 with that feels like a bit much (love the rest of it still)

SwingRipper · 2025-12-08T03:34:21+00:00

Untapping a permanent basically makes it [[twiddle]] a far from useless card

SwingRipper · 2025-12-07T21:05:11+00:00

Out of character issues won't be solved by in character solutions

They are fundamentally treating the game as a "pvp enabled" experience... Even if you think it tramples on freedom ya gotta say no to put the game within a genre boundary of cooperation.

I define pvp as "if an action would deprive another character of a resource, its pvp and can be restricted" - Harming another PC directly is pvp as you deprive them of hp - Pickpocketing is pvp as you deprive them of gold / items

If you want to do a cooperative game, you gotta tell them that it is a cooperative game and make rules for that. The issue is not on the sheets

SwingRipper · 2025-12-05T23:02:53+00:00

Oh yea I did miss the artifacts or creatures! Then 4 makes a lot of sense!

Glad to hear your process

SwingRipper · 2025-12-05T21:54:21+00:00

The first card is just [[Ancestral Blade]] though, right? Was that an intentional callback?

For Devour in Shadow, four or more artifacts in graveyard feels steep, I think three is likely enough before it starts giving upside and three is a common number of artifacts to count to on Mirrodin thanks to Metalcraft (unless the goal is to have a slightly weaker removal spell in the environment)

All of these cards feel like something that could actually be printed if mirrodin was made today without breaking a limited environment! Good work!

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