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#2

An Introduction to Talent Cards

There is a lot of jargon when talking about decks. You can find definitions of most of the terms used on the Star Wars Epic Duels wiki.
Other terms, which might not be ED universal (but probably should be), will themselves be links to the definition.
Throughout this series, I refer to both Special and Power Combat cards as Talent cards.

There are as many ideas for talent cards as there are characters to use them. If you have an idea for a new concept, don't be afraid to try it. But that doesn't mean you can go crazy with whatever effects you want. The Epic Duels wiki has a ton of deck design advice for finding the right balance for your talent cards. Roman Farraday, an avid custom designer for ED, has several documents (page removed) that can really help you find your deck's place in the power structure of the other decks and at the same time keeps each card a reasonably powered one. For ideas regarding your character's theme, there is this article about character trends. These sources (along with a few more I mention down the way) are good places to learn how to build a "balanced" deck.

But I'm assuming you've already got an idea and some or all of your talent cards made - at least in your head. Well, I won't lie; even the best ideas can get ruined by poor implementation. But that's why you're here, right? The first step to implementing your deck, is to decide on the distribution.

The Hasbro decks have several different distribution types, but the most basic type is as follows: Type A x3 + Type B x3 + Type C x2 + Type D x2 + Type E x1 + Type F x1 = 12 Talent cards. This is the simplest format, the easiest format to master, and the one most forgiving of design mistakes. I recommend you begin with this format, but if you have a personality minor character, you'll want have to use some talent cards for your minor. Keeping the same distribution but giving the minor character x2 and x1 talent cards is the most straight forward method, and the one that best lends itself to beginning designers.

No matter what distribution you finally decide on, there are still things that can ruin your otherwise great idea. Talent cards most often have two effects. More powerful talent cards have just one, and it's not unreasonable for a talent card to have 3 lesser effects. Be careful of 3 effects though, especially on a x3 (or more) type card - it can really overpower a deck. Besides, even with 1 or 2 effects, there are nearly limitless things a talent card can accomplish. The Type A & B cards, usually x3, are often the character's signature cards. Vader has Choke, Yoda has Force Lift. There are x4 Force Lightning in Palpatine's deck; an excellent example of an alternate distribution done well. Remember, the attack/defend values of a Power Combat card count as an effect.

The Type C & D (x2) cards have a similar story, but with slightly better effects. The best comparison between the x3 and x2 types can be seen in Obi-Wan's deck. Jedi Attack (x3 in the deck) has two effects: an attack value of 6, and movement. Force Control (x2 in the deck) also has two effects: an attack value of 7, and movement of multiple characters. Likewise Leia's Latent Force Abilities is a good x2 card, A7D7 & Draw a card. Type C & D cards also can have one semi-powerful effect, like Whirlwind Attack and Thermal Detonator, both of which deal direct damage to multiple characters. Type E & F (x1) is for powerful effects, like You Will Die (one very powerful effect) or Force Rebound (two great effects).

Design This #7+8 are all about choosing your distribution. They explore the above few paragraphs in depth.

But there is a tricky thing in the overall distribution of talent cards. Any of the types can be used to balance against other powerful cards in the same deck, like Royal Command (x1) or I Will Not Fight You (x3). Except for Obi-Wan, every Hasbro deck has a talent card that when you draw you're like, "not the card I wanted, really." Another way to find balance in your deck is to add conditions for more powerful effects. Cards like Anakin's Calm and Vader's All Too Easy are prime examples of this strategy. Neither card is overly effective, until the tertiary condition is met.

And that brings up a good point about the "theme" of your deck. Admittedly, not all decks have a theme, so it doesn't really count as a step in the process (at least for now), but the best decks do have a theme. In the past, "theme" has been confused with "path to victory." They're not the same thing, but sometimes they are. For example, Darth Maul's theme is something along the lines of, "I unload attack after attack until you run out of defense." That's very similar to his path to victory, which is something like, "I horde cards then unload on your ass." Likewise Anakin's path to victory is "Anger, Calm, repeat," and his theme is "I'm an angry young man; but I'm a Jedi." A slightly more disparate theme/path is Jango & Boba. Their theme is something like, "we use tricks and mobility to get you!," where their path to victory is more like, "Rocket Retreat, oh please oh please let the next card be Rocket Retreat." A theme that isn't remotely along the path to victory? Luke. I Will Not Fight You fits his whiney persona perfectly, but that card is a tough hurdle for him to win any match.

In your deck, you probably have an idea for a path to victory. If so, good! If not, don't worry. Mace, Obi, and Dooku are all well-rounded enough to not have a clear and certain path. What you might not have for your deck is a theme, but don't sweat it. Chances are if an idea for a neat deck popped in your head (that's why you're here, right?) your deck will transfer some of that idea to the character you assign it to. Heck, half the time the neat idea comes from the character you want to make a deck for in the first place!

But all that is easy. The hard part is making your deck compatible with the game. Two things you need to decide after you've distributed your cards are: 1 - How powerful do I want my deck to be in relation to the Hasbro decks?, and 2 - Does my deck add any new elements that need to be explained? The first question is easy; you've already developed a feel for how each Hasbro deck performs, and you will readily see if the deck you make is no where near what you expect it to be. The second question might not be as obvious as you think though.

Consider the card to the left: Walking Arsenal. There isn't anything apparently new going on here, but the card isn't exactly clear on what is going on. The problem is, we don't know where the "2 additional points of damage" is coming from. No, I don't mean a specific weapon; I mean does that 2 points happen if a defense card of 5 or higher is played? If so, why not (if Durge is adjacent) make it an attack of 7? Or does it mean to say, "if this attack does damage, increase the damage by 2." Sadly, neither of these are true. The effect is supposed to be, no matter what, if Durge is adjacent to the target, the target takes 2 points of damage when you play this card. There is something new after all, direct damage on an attack card.

When you have something new, how you word it becomes especially important; you want people to understand your card the moment they're done reading it. You achieve that by following the conventions for wording used in the core Hasbro game. That Walking Arsenal card should say, "*After attacking, if Durge is adjacent, the target takes 2 points of damage." Here is a list of the wordings I see most misused or unapplied in custom decks.

Opponent vs Enemy
This is the sin I am most guilty of. When referring to opposing players, use opponent. When referring to the characters on the opposing team, use enemy. Often times you'll be able to be exact in what you mean, by saying "opposing player" or "enemy character," but it is good to be consistent.

*The Asterisk*
This confusing little symbol is explained quite adequately in this article, written by Scott Hagarty and yours truly. The short version is this: the effect marked by an asterisk needs to be resolved immediately as attack & defend values are compared. When both attack & defend cards have an asterisk, they resolve in the standard order: attacker's effects followed by defender's.

Remove from Play vs Destroyed
They mean the same thing. When a character's health reaches 0 (the red square) he is destroyed and removed from play. Certain custom cards return removed or destroyed characters to the game. This is different from "adding" characters. Unless the card that grants this effect specifies otherwise, the returned characters re-enter play at full health.

[Star] - the mysterious value
A combat value of [star] represents a value of infinite, or irrelevant, and the card text will explain how to handle this value in combat. In situations where you need to know the value of a [star] card versus other cards in the player's hand, the text can help resolve what numeric value to assign [star]. If the accompanying text says, "[owner] takes no damage," the numeric value is definitely the highest in the player's hand. However, if the accompanying text says, "[owner] takes full damage," the numeric value is 0. To date, I've never seen a [star] defense card that used any other accompanying text besides those two, but theoretically there could be one that says, "[owner] takes half damage (rounded down/up)." In such a situation, where a numeric value for [star] is not immediately apparent, use the highest attack value card in the opponent's hand as the catalyst to determine the value of [star] (as though the highest value attack card was being defended by the [star] in question). When [star] appears in the attack field, it is accompanied by text that determines the value at the time of combat, but it from a source that is apart from the normal combat rules. A [star] is not interchangable with an asterisk, because a [star] essentially says, "it doesn't matter what value card your opponent plays, this happens." But as the example to the right shows, that isn't exactly true. In the event a card like Kohun Poison Dart comes up against a defensive [star], the world explodes and we all die. Or nothing happens. Since neither card has a numeric value, just discard both. Though, Counter Attack would still deal 1 damage to the attacker - that's a secondary effect not tied to the [star].

"any character"
The term "any" implies the player playing the card may choose any available and eligible target. Often times "any" with accompanying restrictions, such as "can attack" or "in line of sight," which provide conditions on eligibility.

The big "IF"
Ah the if. The if always represents a condition that when met triggers an additional effect - making that card a highly effective one in the right situation. Usually there is only one if on a card; if can be suddenly dangerous when more than one appears on a card.

Attack at range
This one doesn't exist in the core Hasbro decks, but it should. Thermal Detonator has caused quite a controversy over its ambiguous wording. I'm firmly in the camp that "character he can attack" is supposed to mean any enemy character, but it just as easily could mean any character in his line of sight. In Epic Duels, "can attack at range" refers to orthogonal's - horizontal, vertical, and diagonals. So the phrase "any characte he can attack" means any character, but "any enemy he can attack at range" means any enemy character. Just add those two little word to Thermal Detonator and everything is clear.

"at random"
This refers to your opponent losing cards that you choose blindly. So far this has only meant from their hand, but it's conceivable that a custom deck can discard cards randomly from an opponent's draw pile.

"add to play"
This term references custom decks that add characters (or maybe obstacles) to the board that weren't there before.

"the player controlling that character"
One of the most annoying phrases in ED to fit on a card, but a necessary one. If you want a talent card that effects both a player and his characters, you need it.

"up to"
The phrase "up to" indicates the player's option to use any of the stated resource "up to" the maximum value listed. So, Wisdom lets Mace move up to 5 spaces, and Meditation lets Palpy recover up to 4 health points.

"Play this card when..."
This is an important line on a talent card, especially for custom decks. More than one custom deck contains talent cards that cancel a card just played by your opponent: these cards say "Play on your opponent's turn" or "Play after [so and so] takes damage." If the phrase "Play this card face up" appears in the effects section of a Power Combat card, it does so for a reason, usually because it is exempt from the normal combat rules for that character.

Health Points & Recovering
Sure, it's a pet peeve of mine, but in Epic Duels it's Health Points, or health, not hit points. It's also recovering, or recovers, not healing or heals. No one will be confused if you use heal instead of recover, or hit points instead of health. Like I said, it's a peeve.

"turn"
A "turn" is defined as one player rolling the die for movement and performing as many actions as they are allotted (usually 2). So the phrase "until after your next turn" means the effect it is attached to lasts until the next time you roll the die and perform 2 actions. The phrase "cannot draw cards on his/her next turn" means that when it's that player's turn, he/she can't draw cards, but that won't stop Obi's player from drawing a card off Jedi Block, because JB is played on someone else's turn.

Can Not Move vs Roll to Move
These are two distinct ideas. A card that says "[character] cannot roll to move" means the player controlling that character can't move that character via die roll at the beginning of his/her turn, but may still move that character via talent cards. A card that says "[character] cannot move until..." means the player controlling that character can't move that character for by any means, be it die roll or talent card. A character that "cannot move" can still be move by opponent players via talent cards, such as Force Push, but not by allied player talent cards.

"After attacking"
This phrase refers to the end of the combat process. What's the combat process? Well, it's described in the article above, on the asterisk, but the short version is this:

1. Attacker declares attack.
2. Target defends, or does not
3. Attack and defense values are calculated (if necessary) and compared.
4. Damage, if any, is applied.
5. Secondary effects of the attacker's card are resolved.
6. Secondary effects of the defender's card are resolved.

The phrase "after attacking" or "after the attack is resolved" pushes this effect it preceeds to the very end of the combat process. So, when Han's Heroic Retreat is played against Jedi Block, Obi-Wan's player draws a card before Han gets to move.

When "after attacking" or similar phrases appears along side an asterisk, the phrase misrepresents the intent of the effect. The card is still resolved according to the asterisk, but the outcome is contigent on the result of the attack. Imagine a custom power defense card that reads, "D0*: *If this attack destroys [owner of card], the attacker must choose and discard 1 card for each point of damage dealt." Well Boba doesn't mind that defense card so much, since he gets to draw 3 before discarding, thanks to the asterisk on his card. Also, there are more than a few custom cards that don't need an asterisk, like As You Wish above. And Scott's joke card should definately be a [star].

The second step for your talent cards is careful wording, and now you have a good idea of how to word some of the effects on your talent cards. Future Design This! articles will delve in depth the complexities of talent card design. For now, whatever the effect of your talent card, be sure the wording isn't ambiguous in any way. Not only will people respond better to your deck as a well-thought out piece, you'll show your mastery of ED terminology, which inspires confidence in your ability as a designer. In the next Design This!, we get to the nitty-gritty: image making.