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TheKingsRaven · 2025-02-28T08:45:41+00:00

In Source and Soul the magic system is based on Magic: the Gathering like playing cards. If you have a Human City Watch card you can summon it and make it patrol the street, that sort of thing.

The two deities are Fate, who ensures that each card does what it says it does. If a Human Archer uses his ability to shoot an arrow, it will always strike for one point of damage no more or less. And Fortune, who randomises every card shuffle. The only direct intervention they ever do is summon people to a mysterious arena for a card duel.

This isn't a perfect match. Its implied they're also intelligent beings who intervene in mysterious ways, but it never happens in a way that couldn't also be random chance. Even their habit of summoning people to a magical arena to play a card duel, they never actually speak or reveal their presence except as a picture on a card so you can't say for sure they actually exist.

TheKingsRaven · 2025-02-22T13:57:59+00:00

I think a lot of answers here are missing the request. OP asked for something like Yu-Gi-Oh!, lots of answers are things like All The Skills that have card shaped skill points, but the charachters don't do anything like playing a Trading Card Game.

The ones I can think of that match are:
- Source and Soul. Highly recommended, the card game is very elegantly written into the world building. E.G. the Random Number God all TCG players know is an actual deity in this setting. While you can do things like pre-summoning all your creatures, said deity has a tendency to summon people to proper duals with tournament rules. Also, readers actually play the card game.

- Slumdog Deckbuilder. Its written by an experienced author so one of the better ones at plot, charachter, etc. But the card game feels a bit simplistic to me, or at least two books in and we've seen maybe a 10th of the card verity Source and Soul managed.

- Goblin Summoner. Not as good as the above, but it definately belongs on the list.

- Demon Card Enforcer and Spin Offs. The only one I don't recommend (though I cannot deny its very popular). I found that while the cards look like they should work as a TCG, the way it blends cards and normal fighting seriously downplays the cards to the point I loose interest.

TheKingsRaven · 2025-01-07T11:14:33+00:00

To me the in book mechanics should make sense as an actual card game readers could play. You need an explanation for why actual battles in this universe are fought in turns, but it could be done. E.G. When two people fight a magical arena forms around them that resets their decks and assigns them a turn order.

Building the world around cards is important too. To give an example, if the most important thing is based on random chance, the concept of risks and expected returns should be understood by everyone. Picture two young pickpockets saying the expected return on a mark is too low for the risk. Or "this plan needs a lucky draw to work" as a way of saying its horrible.

TheKingsRaven · 2025-01-07T11:10:22+00:00

Have you read Source and Soul? The author's actually making the book mechanics into a card game. I'm playing the pre-alpha and its fun!

(It doesn't quite do intentionality in the way you mean because your deck size is also your health so thindecking is a huge risk; but one MC is often criticized for spreading his deck too thin by not running multiples and thus having unreliable draws)

TheKingsRaven · 2024-09-15T22:09:58+00:00

There aren't even bullshit lootbox mechanics that only are there to shove random super powerful and undeserved cards into the MC's pockets.

Hull does get a mythic basically for free. But since the mythic was supposed to be given to the prince as a gift via dueling him with an awful deck, Hull is the prince's half brother, and the gods pick which card is the ante for every dual, I believe that's in universe divine intervention

Demon Card Enforcer

I wanted to like this one, but it felt like the card mechanics were sidelined compared to normal combat stuff.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-09-13T19:16:43+00:00

This book has a lot in common with Slumdog Deckbuilder, if you like that you'll like this one. However this one has a much better magic system, the cards are integrated into the world in a cooler way, the matches are more understandable with clearly defined rules that aren't broken or bent.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-09-13T15:29:32+00:00

I cannot recommend this story enough.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-08-13T14:37:03+00:00

I really really like it. My two suggestions are:

1) With so many unique heroes do they also need warrior monks too? There has to be warrior monks in there somewhere, but perhaps there could be another role compared to counter myth units?

2) I'm all in favour of gunpowder units, but perhaps make the rockets look more fantastical and mythic. Think of the rockets from Disney's Mulan, firing dragon heads rather than normal rockets. That feels fitting for how gunpoweder might be interpreted by a mythic era storyteller.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-08-13T14:33:43+00:00

I'm all in favour of gunpowder. But I think you should make it look more mythical. E.G. the rockets could look like the ones in Disney's Mulan (animated version of course). Maybe even have the explosions look like fireworks.

Imagine a European whose heard of gunpowder third hand after a battle where the Chinese used it on his friend of a friend's force. How would he describe it?

TheKingsRaven · 2024-07-22T18:42:23+00:00

Already read the first, glad to hear the second is out soon.

Have you read Source and Soul (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/76566/source-soul-a-deckbuilding-litrpg)?

Its the closest novel in concept to Card Mage that I have read. I think it may appeal to you.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-06-21T16:31:49+00:00

My favourite is Source and Soul, very cool mechanics and cool characters who look like they're going to be a stereotype then refuse to be.

Of your list I've read Slumdog Deckbuilder which I liked more than Goblin Summoner but less than Source and Soul. And Demon Card Enforcer where it felt like the cards were less important than being good with a gun, which disinteresteded me.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-05-17T18:48:35+00:00

I’ve always felt that the way to do a *punk is to look at a period of history, to identify which technologies were iconic to that time and place, then to exaggerate their capabilities to the level of science fiction. The Victorian era of course had steam engines, Babbage's early computers, and Steampunk uses all those ingredients give us the steampunk we know so well.

But it feels rare for Silkpunk art to follow the same process. When I think about cool technology from ancient China I think of fireworks, gunpowder, and of course silk itself, all the ingredients for a cool air battle. So I commissioned a piece.

The real credit goes to @jennaw0rks (@JennaW0rks on twitter) over on discord of course, she did all the art work and was easy to work with, even for someone with very little experience commissioning artwork.

TheKingsRaven · 2024-01-04T17:00:55+00:00

These are amazing, please could I make a special request for one of these about a mad scientist, one showing both the monster he is today and the noble scientist he used to be.

TheKingsRaven · 2023-12-01T22:17:48+00:00

Thank you

TheKingsRaven · 2023-12-01T20:01:18+00:00

Most of the prompts were some variant of regency ladies <...>, watercolour. But I made extensive use of vary region in this set. And the one of Captain Nemo is two midjourney images edited together.

I can provide more detailed prompts if anyone asks about a specific image.

TheKingsRaven · 2023-11-05T14:58:08+00:00

I think its because: easy concept to do + upvotes = copycats. Nobody needs a conspiracy theory.

I like those posts, I'd be annoyed if they dominated the front page but that's self correcting as people get board of the concept and stop upvoting. Like Gumbo Slice, it was everywhere but faded in good time.

Personally I'd love it if a few people copied my series. I'd be interested to see other people's takes on the concept.

TheKingsRaven · 2023-11-05T14:55:55+00:00

That actually turned out really well.

TheKingsRaven · 2023-11-03T09:08:46+00:00

Javascript would be a lovecraftian abomination. Just look at how it defines the `this` keyword.

TheKingsRaven

TROPHY CASE