Inspired by Magic the Gathering, a popular card game, almost everyone has surely heard of, I decided to use magic set editor 2 and one of the ready made mtg templates for it to create an entirely new card game.
Formats:
It can either be played in a 2 player one on one format, a three player duel or a 4 player 2 on 2 game. In the case of the standard one on one matchup, each player must use a deck with the opposing faction.(Decks are made using cards from either the "Legion" or "Coalition" factions) Cards of different factions cannot be included in the same deck. Factionless cards, which include "Mercenary" entities can go in either deck archetype however.
In fact, the three player format requires that one player plays a Legion deck, another plays a Coalition, and the third uses a factionless deck made up of Mercenary entities and other factionless cards. The four player 2 on 2 format requires that 2 players team up with decks of the same faction or a factionless Mercenary deck and take on 2 players with decks of the opposing faction and/or factionless decks.
Deck Construction:
Decks must consist of 40 cards plus an optional 10 card sideboard. (Those familiar with mtg will know that a sideboard is typically filled with cards that are generally only good for very specific, as opposed to all purpose interactions) As stated above, your deck cannot mix factions(So no "Legion" or "Coalition" cards can go into the same deck), but you are free to add any cards with no specific faction to any deck.
Like Magic the Gathering, you can only have 4 copies of any one card in your deck. There is however, a further restriction in Mythic Battlegrounds: You can only have one copy of any "Mythic" card in your deck. (Identifiable by its gold border as well as the text "Mythic" stated on the card itself.)
Unlike mtg, in which basic lands are exempt from this rule, there are no exemptions to the four card rule which let you have any number of cards.
Generally, you want to add enough cards to get all the resources you'll need during the game, so you'll want to add enough cards that give you gold, honor, or magic (if playing a deck which requires it). Such gameplay elements will be fleshed out in a subsequent section. You may also include the optional avatar that works best with your deck, and is the appropriate faction. Just like a mythic card, there can only be one in your deck, but you also cannot have a different avatar in your deck.(even if the same faction etc.) You could in theory not put an avatar into your deck, but it will most likely put you at a disadvantage should you so decide to forego a mighty avatar.
Fortifications are what let you deploy your entities, and are a main way of getting honor(which is used to pay for the abilities of entities and other effects). You won't need 20 or more of them in your deck as is the case with lands in mtg, but you will need at least 7 or 8 of them. Due to the nature of the game and the few cards which add gold as a resource, every deck will most likely be playing 4 copies of Gold Coffer as it would be foolhardy to not do so. (There are a handful of other cards which can increase your cumulative amount of gold however)
Cards that add magic (lighting, fire, chaos, or nature) aren't required. Same goes for the addition of "mages", a type of entity. You might want to just make a straightforward deck with weapons and regular entities (soldiers etc. If you do decide to include or better yet, base your entire deck around mages, you should surely add enough resources to support such an endeavor. This means enough mages that exhaust (tap in mtg parlance) to add magic to your "cache" (which empties at the end of your turn, just like in mtg), as well as items that can add the appropriate amount of magic required by the things your deck is trying to do.
For instance, regardless of what faction you've chosen to construct your deck around, you'd want to include phenomenal cards like Spellmaster's Anthology or Mage's Codex in your deck which will be helpful in adding whatever magic you need for the abilities of your mages etc.
You'll probably want enough weapons as well, depending upon whether you are using minions (which have their built in attack abilities and can't wield weapons or armor), mages (which usually have built in spells which can do damage etc.), or just normal entities which can't attack or defend without weapons. If you are running mostly entities with built in attacks, you probably don't need too much in terms of weaponry for your entities to wield. But if you don't have any minions, or mages, it would be best to get a good ratio of armaments to entities, possibly 1 for every 3 entities you have in the deck.
As for items(the equivalent of non-creature artifacts in mtg) or effects (like instants in mtg except they use honor and not the magic which some cards in this game feature), you'll want such cards to fill a very small amount of space in your deck, with possible exceptions for your sideboard. Items which add magic, like the ones mentioned earlier can be an essential component of a deck based around mages, but if you include 4 of both cards mentioned, and account for your 4 gold coffers, 12 of the 40 card slots in the main deck will have been filled. It's probably a better strategy to say include 2 of each or just 4 of one, and not get too greedy in terms of adding a bazillion magic to your cache. Effects that affect the battle phase, like Desperate Defense will be probably always be a good addition to your deck, but adding four Rally the Undead may not always be the best choice, but I suppose it depends on how many entities, resources, etc. your deck can squeak by with.
Example of a possible deck:
Succubus Slaughter
Avatar:
1x Lilith
Entities:
1x Gavalia, The Blightcaster
1x Velira, The Bloodthirsty
1x Marlessa, Empress of Night
2x Priest of Cthulu
2x Bloodclaw Succubus
2 Obsidian-Wing Succubus
4x Succubus Ritualist
4x Elite Succubus
4x Dreamstealer Succubus
Fortifications:
4x Nightmare Tower
2x Dread Tower
1x Darkstone Fortress
1x Netherworld Outpost
Armaments:
1x Spectral Blade
2x Wolfskull Axe
Items:
4x Gold Coffer
2x Spellmaster's Anthology
1x Succubus Shrine
Sideboard:
1x Epic Confrontation
2x Infernal Armor
2x Blightspell Vampire
2x Priest of Cthulu
1x Guardian Wraith
2x Stormrider Succubus
Rules of the Game:
Now finally, onto the rules of the game itself. Both players start with 20 stamina (equivalent to life in mtg), 10 gold, and 0 honor. Throughout the course of the game each of these are cumulative but cannot go above 20. (Anything that would have you increase any of these totals once they're already at 20 has no effect)
There is no maximum hand size. Each player draws 6 cards to start the game with, but can obviously draw more during the course of it. The turn phases breakdown as follows : Upkeep, Deployment, Battle, Resolution. The Upkeep phase is essentially no different than a combined untap/upkeep/draw phase in mtg terms. If something says during your upkeep you have to pay a cost, it just needs to happen before the upkeep is over. So, you do get to draw first before having some upkeep based effect take place. Everything does untap at the beginning of your upkeep like in mtg, and you do also draw a card after that takes effect, but beyond that you can choose to pay for the upkeep of say Mercenaries or Vampires(more on that later) at the end of your upkeep phase.
Next, it's onto your deployment phase. This is the only time you can play fortifications, entities, items, and armaments. (Unless a particular card specifies otherwise) Effects, like instants in mtg, can be played during your turn or an opponent's turn, but they usually specify a specific phase in which you can play them. (battle phase, or deployment phase in most cases).
The battle phase then follows. Combat is different than say mtg, as you don't choose to attack your opponent in order for them to block with their creatures. Instead, what you can attack is based upon a hierarchy of "legal targets" which can change depending on what your opponent has out on the board. For example, an entity that has an ability that says "...This entity inflicts 2 damage upon target opponent or entity", cannot hit your opponent if they control any entities. (unless that entity you control has special abilities like "Airborne" or "stealth", the main exceptions to this rule) You instead attack their entities directly and once those are no longer on the board, the legal target hierarchy then checks to see if they have any fortifications. If they have any, you cannot attack your opponent until those fortifications are also no longer on the battleground. (With "Airborne" and "Stealth" entities being the exception to this once again, as entities with "Stealth" can always target an opponent regardless of what entities or fortifications they might have, and entities with "Airborne" can fly over fortifications and non-Airborne entities your opponents control. There are a handful of Airborne fortifications in the game which would stop that, but most of the time, this is the case.) If any opponent has no entities and no fortifications, then either they or their avatar becomes a legal target for an attack. Thus anything which says "inflicts damage upon a legal target" or "upon target opponent" can hit either of those with such a board state.
If any effect would give an entity some kind of range based, special ability during the middle of the battle phase after attacks have been declared(which do not need to happen all at once like in mtg, but is more like kaijudo, where you can tap to attack with one at a time throughout the course of combat), this could indeed change the legal target hierarchy. For instance, if you attack your opponent with an entity with "Airborne" since they have no airborne fortifications or entities themself, and an ability of an entity or item they control is activated by them to give one of their entities airborne, your attacking entity then has its attack redirected to that entity instead. If your opponent would give an attacking entity stealth after attacking one of your entities, and thus you could normally have its battle ability activated to defend and defeat their entity, your entity would lose the ability to defend. (as entities with "stealth" can attack entities although they can just attack an opponent at any time regardless of an opponent's board state. Entities attacked by entities with stealth cannot defend, placing them in the same category as exhausted entities which are attacked. Which brings me to that point. With all legal target restrictions accounted for, entities may attack exhausted (tapped) or untapped entities. Exhausted entities cannot have abilities activated, regardless of whether exhausting them is required to pay for the cost of that ability or not. So, exhausted entities cannot be revived for instance.
Finally, the resolution phase is when all magic not used during your turn drains from your magic cache, and all damage is removed from entities you control like in mtg.
Additional Rules:
Special forms of battle damage
Some entities either have built in abilities that let them inflict damage other than normal battle damage, or can wield weapons which give them such an ability. Just as is the case with spells that inflict damage which mages possess, entities defeated during the battle phase which have been inflicted lightning, fire, or chaos damage are annihilated(removed from the game) as opposed to being eliminated.(which places them into the crypt)
Minions
Minions are simply a type of entity which cannot wield armaments and instead usually have built in battle abilities.
Mages
Mages are a type of entity that have spells built into them as abilities. Any spell which can inflict damage is considered an attack and can only be activated during the battle phase. Any spell which doesn't, can be activated at any time whatsoever. Entities defeated by spells inflicting chaos, fire, or lightning damage don't go to your crypt(graveyard in mtg terminology). They are instead "annihilated", which means removed from the game, usually convenient to place in a pile next to your crypt. Entities that are annihilated cannot be revived. Mages are required to be on the battleground under your control in order to have magic added to your magic cache, or to play magic entities. They are also the only entities which can wield magic armaments(armor and weapons alike), but more on the legality of wielding armaments with be discussed below.
Wielding weapons and armor
Entities which aren't minions may wield armaments, which take the form of either weapons or armor. Mages are the only entities which can wield magic armaments, but they can also wield non-magic armaments that correspond to any other class they might have. (For example, a mage who is also a soldier could wield any armament that says "soldier's armor or soldier's weapon")
Entities cannot wield armaments that do not correspond to their class however. Thus, a soldier cannot wield archer's weapons etc.
There is also a limit to what entities can wield. One entity can potential wield one armor which is "body armor", one which is a "helm", one which is a "shield" and one weapon which is not "two-handed". An entity wielding a two-handed weapon can wield all other armor along with that weapon, with the exception of a shield.
