Elemental-Wizard Themed, Deck-Building Game with a Shared-Mana Pool using aMancala Mechanic

Hi Mikey,

Thanks for the feedback on my typos! Let me quickly address the things you mentioned:

- the section that was referencing III.D should be referencing V.D
- Fiery armor should only redirect damage
- Chilling blast X+1X is a typo :)
- Entangling Roots v. Censor: yep, you're right. Good call!

Could you expand on your idea of color fixers? I already have Imbue Mana and Focus Mana, which modify the mana wells.

Thanks for your examples. Yeah, I was thinking of doing something that transferred mana from one place to another. A 2 for 1 mana trade may also be interesting.

Honestly, getting mana screwed is actually a big part of the game: since other players are trying to use the same mana to do things and can see what you're trying to do, I would expect that them to do their best to mess up the mana combo you're going for.

I'm aiming for about every turn there being several cards you'd like to play, but since I limit you to three actions and then further limit players to not be able to reuse a mana well in a given turn, then that means that players who aren't planning carefully will likely get to invoke just one spell a turn.

[Edit: updated the rules and cards for the various typos. Introduced some of those mana transmutation cards. Also, added a FAQ section to the rules for some things that I thought players might ask.]

No apologies necessary. I have the same restrictions on my time. I even got some playtest materials for other games before, but I didn't have the time to print it out and figure out all the in's and out's.

I will say that the ease of conjuring and invoking spells is one thing that I'm keenly interested in. If it's too easy, then there's no challenge. If it's too hard, then games will go on forever.

Version 0.3

- Renamed:
the spell library as the Great Library
your spell book as your personal library
your hand as your spell book
- Removed examples from in main text and moved them to separate section so that reading flow was less disrupted.

Actions
- Moved mana casting from being a phase to being a action
- Increased actions from 3 to 4
- Added an action to discard your spell book (hand) to your personal library and redraw it.

Mana Casting
- Removed a preset casting direction; players may cast clockwise or counter-clockwise freely.
- Added a new means of casting called dividing: players may move up to half of a single well's mana to an adjacent well(s).

Source Requirements
- Changed the definition of main source requirements from meaning "the amount of the main source on the spell is available from an unused well" to meaning "the main source is available from an unused well."

Cards
- Added even more cards so that there are 63 unique and 171 total.
- Reduced the amount of mana needed to cast various spells across the board.
- Added a spell type of sustainable, meaning it lasts as long as you keep using a sustain action on it.
- Reblanced the mana involved in each card so that there is more equal distribution of each mana type

Rules - http://bit.ly/1ajT5qB

Cards - http://bit.ly/1bLUS5M

Change log - http://bit.ly/199S2eL

You raise some good points. From the few play sessions I've had so far, since the game has only been incarnate for about two weeks, I'm quite surprised at how well the game plays. There is a lot of thinking that happens on a given turn, a whole lot. I'm torn because on the one hand you can see the amount of strategy that players are putting into their positioning, but on the other hand, the game can move at a glacier pace if a given player has analysis paralysis.

Regarding the number of mana, I started with four mana types, but honestly, it was so incredibly trivial to do that there was almost no challenge involved at all for what I think should be a mechanic that you shouldn't be able to just do mindlessly.

Also, you HP and player death ideas have merit. That was my least thought out portion of the game, so I'm hardly married to it at all. If you have any alternative ideas for that, feel free to give them.

Version 0.32

Rules
Rewrote introduction so that it provides theme, an overview of the mechanics, and the goal.
Added the Active Field, any spells in effect that last more than 1 turn are here
Damage: clarified in the rules further how damage works
Some organizaional tweaks:
- Moved the special rules for mana back to the rest of the mana casting process
- Made subcategories for the FAQ

Card removals
Block Well: players seem to be avoiding the spell because it has a strong probability of coming back to bite them

Individual card changes
Focus mana: reduced Spirit requirement from 3+ to 2+ mana
Sadist's aid
- can retarget on each sustain, not whenever you please
- healing effect only comes from damage dealt by spell invoker
Typhoon
- no longer has the instant attribute; must be conjured as usual
- damage increased from 3+2X to 4+2x
Lightning strike: damage done is lessened from 3+2x to 1+2x

Group card changes
Earth defense spells now have slightly lower HP values so they are easier to break.
Every card that was sustainable or permanent now has an end condition that other players can meet.
Every spell that had a mana limitation effect has a duration of 1 round now.
Corrected various additional typos.