[MtG] The Blackhawk set

[Blue Ghost]

Can you expand on "Empires World" a bit?

Sorry, I meant the proposal I posted earlier, about the advancement and conflict of civilizations. Maybe it needs a catchier title.

I don't agree that it necessarily conflicts with the theme you're proposing. The Samurai (and we can put elements of the western knight in there as well, there's a reason they are seen as quite similar) while a soldier at the base, is more than that as well. Bushido in particular, though meaning literally Way of the Warrior, has a lot of elements and precepts that are not war focused. Some of them started as peaceful ways to train tangential skills, notably discipline and control, but even those became valued for their own sake.

The Samurai is not simply a warrior, nor even simply a warrior class, the Samurai is a nobility. The Samurai has a responsibility to their society, and they are a reflection of it. They are expected to be honorable, reflecting the values of their society. They are poets and politicians, leaders and protectors, warriors and schemers, and more.

The Samurai can very much be reflections of the core values of their faction, and be the angle that brings those larger conflicts into the more limited sphere of war, and even personal combat. Where the Kurotaka value Samurai as skilled and deadly warriors, the Shogunate values them for personal honor and leadership, as the structural backbone of their society. The church sees them as devoted warriors, swearing their honor and service to the religion, the Celts see them as poet warriors, committed to excellence in peace as well as war, and the Fae see them as soldiers, pawns to move around on the board, one limited, but still valuable, kind of power.

It brings the topic of war forward, perhaps, but any analysis of nations and empires ought to, I think, place some special emphasis on war. Magic is a game about conflict and combat, generally, and war is one of the main currencies that nations and power centers had to deal with each other for a long time.

All right, that's fair. There is the issue that real life samurai are heavily associated with a single culture, so in a set focusing on different civilizations, it seems strange that all of them have samurai. But I can accept it on a flavor standpoint.

My main issue is mechanical. We only have room for a single universal mechanic at most, and it will play a huge part in determining how the set plays, and using bushido as our universal mechanic will pull heavily toward a combat focus mechanically. We already have a combat-focused wedge set in Khans of Tarkir, so putting a heavy combat focus on our set will step on the toes of an existing set and set a very high standard for us.

We can try out bushido, but it may not be the optimal choice for our vision. How flexible are you on having bushido? Is it something that you'd be willing to give up on if it ends up not working out?

Also, are we decided on "empires world" (or "clash of civilizations", or whatever) being the theme of the set?


EDIT: Ninja'd by the bard. That is exactly what I'm trying to say.

Hmm... that... is a fair argument, and I will have to think on it some. I'm going to go do some research on the Kamigawa block and how that's set up. I think it will be a useful comparison.

That's a good idea, but note that Kamigawa made a lot of design mistakes and was quite poorly received. It did some things well, but not everything Kamigawa did is a good idea.