Spellcraft - Collectable Card Game - by Three Goblins Ltd

[Steve at ThreeGoblins]

Hi Sheinfell,

Interestingly, you have picked up on a deliberate decision on my part to avoid the 'classic' fantasy races of dwarves, orcs and elves. In fact the original name for the company was almost "Strictly No Elves". I think some of the forest fey folk look Elven though
Never thought of eliminating humans too. Humans will have to stay I think, as they feature heavily in a future faction.


Lovecraft Mythos: Yes I agree. Kraken's reach, the Aquallids and a few other things were partly inspired by Cthulhu , since I am a big Lovecraft fan.


Pirates: I like your idea a lot. I will pass this on to the artist.

Thanks!
Steve
http://www.spellcraft-ccg.com/

[Mack the Knife]

thanks steve! glad to hear you folks are continuing to enhance the game. how about throwing us a bone what will come first? new faction, new cards for the campaign, new artwork? i know you'll probably say your first priority is the iphone (but i don't care about that). so, will it be the iphone in the first month and the rest in month two?

[Sheinfell]

Originally Posted by Steve at ThreeGoblins

Hi Sheinfell,
Interestingly, you have picked up on a deliberate decision on my part to avoid the 'classic' fantasy races of dwarves, orcs and elves. In fact the original name for the company was almost "Strictly No Elves". I think some of the forest fey folk look Elven though
Never thought of eliminating humans too. Humans will have to stay I think, as they feature heavily in a future faction.

I like that with the "No Elves" Couldn't find the original "STOP" sign with the crossed-out pointy ear, so this one will have to do: http://www.discordia11thdimension.co...mages/elf1.gif
And yes, I definitely noticed the low presence of humans, really nice change from "classic" fantasy.
And Fey != (Fantasy) Elves I guess that many people don't know or care about the difference, but here is one person that does.

Brainstorming a bit here:
If removing humans completely does not fit your future plans, how about removing them from the existing factions? Similar to the idea of replacing the Water Pirates with a different non-human card.
At least in my opinion, the few human cards that currently exist do not fit well into the factions they are a part of.
Having a human faction is a different story, of course. I immediately think of a struggling enclave among all the weird non-human stuff that dominates the world.

Let's see... some lengthy analysis coming up:

Fire has the Pyromancers who look human; but those could very well be humanoid Djinns, like on the "Berserk Djinn" card.
Interestingly enough, there is the Inferno card, which shows a human not as protagonist, but as victim of a spell.

Nature: Reemergence, Healing Sap, Rebirth, Wild Growth:
The hunting party on Reemergence definitely looks Elvish in the zoomed view (see above, maybe just an oversight ) , but comes across as humans unless you zoom in and notice the pointy ears.
While the guy on "Healing Sap" has pointy ears, he looks very human.
Rebirth looks great, but also very human.
Wild Growth looks fey-ish, but could also be a human mage/druid.
To make them fit the faction better, I would make them more fey-like, similar to the theme you see on the "Chanting Druids" card (the leaf dress of the woman in the back looks fantastic, more of that style please!).

Water has the Pirates that Steve addresses below. And the "Ocean Mist" card, where - again very interesting - a human is shown as victim again, in the same style as the above-mentioned Fire Inferno card.

Underworld: Darkling Slavers, Narrow Tunnels, Taken Under, Essence Exchange: Again, humans as victim, not protagonist. Interesting...is this a theme/pattern?
Lost and "Wrong Tunnel" are hard to tell: The guy on Lost looks human (face, and no pointy ears), for Tunnel you cannot say, because it shows a silhouette only.
However, their clothing style seems more Elvish-inspired to me. Would like to hear what your artist used as inspiration for those particular cards.
And again, they are portrayed as victims, not as protagonists.

Originally Posted by Steve at ThreeGoblins

Lovecraft Mythos: Yes I agree. Kraken's reach, the Aquallids and a few other things were partly inspired by Cthulhu , since I am a big Lovecraft fan.

Same here

Originally Posted by Steve at ThreeGoblins

Pirates: I like your idea a lot. I will pass this on to the artist.

Very nice to hear that, thanks alot!

[markturner_goblin]

Originally Posted by Sheinfell

I like that with the "No Elves" Couldn't find the original "STOP" sign with the crossed-out pointy ear, so this one will have to do: http://www.discordia11thdimension.co...mages/elf1.gif
And yes, I definitely noticed the low presence of humans, really nice change from "classic" fantasy.
And Fey != (Fantasy) Elves I guess that many people don't know or care about the difference, but here is one person that does.

Brainstorming a bit here:
If removing humans completely does not fit your future plans, how about removing them from the existing factions? Similar to the idea of replacing the Water Pirates with a different non-human card.
At least in my opinion, the few human cards that currently exist do not fit well into the factions they are a part of.
Having a human faction is a different story, of course. I immediately think of a struggling enclave among all the weird non-human stuff that dominates the world.

Let's see... some lengthy analysis coming up:

Fire has the Pyromancers who look human; but those could very well be humanoid Djinns, like on the "Berserk Djinn" card.
Interestingly enough, there is the Inferno card, which shows a human not as protagonist, but as victim of a spell.

Nature: Reemergence, Healing Sap, Rebirth, Wild Growth:
The hunting party on Reemergence definitely looks Elvish in the zoomed view (see above, maybe just an oversight ) , but comes across as humans unless you zoom in and notice the pointy ears.
While the guy on "Healing Sap" has pointy ears, he looks very human.
Rebirth looks great, but also very human.
Wild Growth looks fey-ish, but could also be a human mage/druid.
To make them fit the faction better, I would make them more fey-like, similar to the theme you see on the "Chanting Druids" card (the leaf dress of the woman in the back looks fantastic, more of that style please!).

Water has the Pirates that Steve addresses below. And the "Ocean Mist" card, where - again very interesting - a human is shown as victim again, in the same style as the above-mentioned Fire Inferno card.

Underworld: Darkling Slavers, Narrow Tunnels, Taken Under, Essence Exchange: Again, humans as victim, not protagonist. Interesting...is this a theme/pattern?
Lost and "Wrong Tunnel" are hard to tell: The guy on Lost looks human (face, and no pointy ears), for Tunnel you cannot say, because it shows a silhouette only.
However, their clothing style seems more Elvish-inspired to me. Would like to hear what your artist used as inspiration for those particular cards.
And again, they are portrayed as victims, not as protagonists.


Same here

Very nice to hear that, thanks alot!

Yes I may replace some of the humans like pirates,these could look good as tritons.I was trying to keep away from the usual fantasy monsters like goblins,orcs and dwarves as we wanted our own world with its own creatures.It might be a good idea to have a large version of the map up on our website with details of the regions and its races.
There is quite few humans in the cards,many as victims of some spells as I imagined them to be fairly aggresive and territorial ,but they won't really appear much as actual minions untill the city region expansion. Although also I imagined the darklings would be kidnapping humans and other races(taken under,lost)
Thanks for the comment .If you want some games some time let me know.

[Sheinfell]

Goblins, would you consider putting the Spellcraft soundtrack up for purchase on iTunes?
I really like most of the tracks, and sometimes feel like listening to them as background music, without having the game running.

And maybe track/playlist controls for inside the game?

[Mack the Knife]

hmmm...no developer post for 2 weeks, no response to Sheinfell's post in a week, no update at their website, no app updates, no news of any app updates, it's not summer vacation time nor the holiday season.

[Steve at ThreeGoblins]

Hello Mack,

Unortunately, I was suddenly rushed to hospital for what turned out to be a life-saving operation. The other 2 don't frequent this forum much, so you can always contact them via the website.
However all is back to semi-normal now, so I will attempt to update you now.


To answer Sheinfell's question, we don't have any plans to change the music system or release the tracks. However, it's been requested previously so it goes on the long-term list of wants

The storage issue with iCloud is being finalised and the iPhone version is making good progress. The improved artwork is also making good progress - same/similar images just nicer looking.

Undead faction is 70% done but my absence hindered matters severely , so it's my fault really.

Sorry that's all I have for you right now. Will be watching for any replies.

Steve @ ThreeGoblins

[Earthdweller]

Originally Posted by Steve at ThreeGoblins

Hello Mack,

Unortunately, I was suddenly rushed to hospital for what turned out to be a life-saving operation. The other 2 don't frequent this forum much, so you can always contact them via the website.
However all is back to semi-normal now, so I will attempt to update you now.


To answer Sheinfell's question, we don't have any plans to change the music system or release the tracks. However, it's been requested previously so it goes on the long-term list of wants

The storage issue with iCloud is being finalised and the iPhone version is making good progress. The improved artwork is also making good progress - same/similar images just nicer looking.

Undead faction is 70% done but my absence hindered matters severely , so it's my fault really.

Sorry that's all I have for you right now. Will be watching for any replies.

Steve @ ThreeGoblins

Well OK we'll let you off then!

Seriously I hope youre Ok and make a good recovery.

The game can wait!

[Steve at ThreeGoblins]

Firstly, thank you for the kind words.



Secondly, a few details of some undead cards.




Item: Heart of Darkness : Gain 1 power when a minion dies

Trap: Corrupt : destroy enemy aura as that aura is cast

Spell: Death Is Inevitable : Both players lose 3 life

Spell: Cloud of Bats: places a 0/1 Bat with Quick in each free slot

Spell: Post Mortem : remove top minion in opponent's graveyard and gain life equal to its health


Minions

Stitched Golem : as cast removes top 2 minions from your graveyard, adding their power and health to its own

Grave Robbers : each turn move 2 cards in enemy discard pile to your own

Bone Dragon : ability to destroy outright any creature opposing it with less health than Bone Dragon

Necromages: 1 damage to any target but you lose 1 life

Wraith Soulhunter: Each turn moves to face an unblocked minion

Skeleton Crew: when played , an item in opponent's graveyard goes to your hand

Blood Vapour: Gains +1/+1 each turn but you lose 1 life


Steve @ ThreeGoblins

[Mack the Knife]

hey steve, glad to hear all is getting better for you, wish you all the best and let us know stuff when you can. i'll be patient (sorry for the pun )