CCG RPG

[Gnomemaster]

Has anyone ever made a Collectible Card Game that combines roleplaying?

[Stargate525]

Well I suppose you could break a character down to a deck of cards... though I don't know how the game would work...

[SDragon]

Sometimes I'll visualize the action going on in a CCG as if it was an RPG, if that counts. It can be a bit weird at times, like when I use my equipment deck for M:tG and have nothing out but armor ("suddenly, out of nowhere, a golden helmet appears!"), but alot of times it can be fun.

A CCG that has that built into the mechanics somehow, though? I have no clue how that would be done. I don't know if it even could be done, to be honest.

[Gnomemaster]

well what I was thinking was using cards to represent magic/powers/magic items. I'm not exactly sure how it will work, but I'm thinking it'd be like this: Player's make a character with it's own stats, for magic spells it comes down to a deck of 30-60 cards that are spells/feats/and powers. players would use the deck during combat, while the DM would build a deck for monsters. What do you think?
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[snakefing]

I'm still a little confused: Are you thinking of a game that is primarily an RPG but uses cards to resolve combats, or one that is primarily a CCG but involves treating individual characters specially?

I could see making a game where players can create one or more characters with particular special abilities that affect the game, then allows those characters to gain "experience" through play that can be used to upgrade abilities or purchase items.

I'm not sure that having a deck to represent a character is necessarily the best, though you could probably make that work if you think of the game as essentially a mage duel.

You could also think of the deck as representing a faction - a group of characters working together, doing some kind of battle with another faction. Start the game with one of your characters in play, then you play other cards to bring in spells, items, monsters or other forces, call up additional characters, etc. Gain points by winning the match, having your characters survive the match, succeeding at certain actions in play, etc.

Could be fun. Not really "role-playing" in the F2F sense, but there's only so much you can do in a game that is fundamentally a CCG.

[Lmns Crn]

I had an idea some years back for a card game that would simulate a sword duel. Didn't have the Collectable aspect (so technically, I guess it was just a "CG"), but it struck me as a neat idea. Cards were different sword maneuvers, stances, defenses, and so on.

[Epic Meepo]

Technically, MtG is an RPG, in a very minimal sense. You are playing a planewalker, and your library represents the resources you use to duel other planewalkers. Presumably, you could add some free-form roleplaying where planewalkers have distinct personae and interact in non-duel situations.

Also, I've seen someone devise a MtG tournament structure in which participants earn XP by defeating opponents. The more opponents you defeat in duels, the more XP you earn and the more cards you are allowed to use during deck construction. Essentially, cards are organized into lists according to there overall power, and access to lists during deck construction is determined by the player's XP.

[Epic Meepo]

I had an idea some years back for a card game that would simulate a sword duel... Cards were different sword maneuvers, stances, defenses, and so on.

A few years back, someone tried to make a Highlander CCG that was very much like that, but it never took off. Also, there is a very amusing card game whose name I can't remember that simulates a fight in a schoolyard. Cards were things like "wedgie" and "kick in the shin."

[SDragon]

Also, I've seen someone devise a MtG tournament structure in which participants earn XP by defeating opponents. The more opponents you defeat in duels, the more XP you earn and the more cards you are allowed to use during deck construction. Essentially, cards are organized into lists according to there overall power, and access to lists during deck construction is determined by the player's XP.

That sounds incredibly fun! I'd definitely try that out if I ever had the chance.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

The idea reminds me a little of the GameCube game, Baten Kaitos. Anyone ever played that?

Each character has a deck of cards to represent his attacks in a turn. I enjoyed it.

[sparkletwist]

Or that old SNES game, Arcana! :D

Seriously, though, I think this mechanic would be fun.

[Ravenspath]

At one point we were going to use the NetRunner CCG to roleplay out hacking the net in a Cyberpunk game. It would have been fun but the Cyberpunk game never got off the ground so it didn't happen.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Or that old SNES game, Arcana! :D

Seriously, though, I think this mechanic would be fun.

Hey, I have that one, too! I had forgotten about it. I kind of liked it, but it could have been better--like with save points, for example ;)

[snakefing]

Technically, MtG is an RPG, in a very minimal sense. You are playing a planewalker, and your library represents the resources you use to duel other planewalkers. Presumably, you could add some free-form roleplaying where planewalkers have distinct personae and interact in non-duel situations.

You could actually take that a little further without hugely breaking the MtG concept. If "you" in the game are a planewalker, then there's no reason why "you" couldn't have some particular abilities that affect the game. (Almost as if you started with a special card in play that represents your planewalker's abilities.)

So:
Necromancer-1: Skip your draw: Search your library for a basic swamp. If you find one, put it in your hand. Then shuffle your library. (Possibly too strong an ability - Necromancer is never mana screwed, at least for swamps. And I'm sure the wording is two-editions-ago. But you get the idea.)

Probably would work best in a league or something, so you could set up rules for gaining experience, increasing levels, buying equipment, gaining "feats", and/or gaining points in the league standings. But even without that, it could be an interesting variant rule.

[Epic Meepo]

(Almost as if you started with a special card in play that represents your planewalker's abilities.)

They already have that: Vanguard cards. All you'd have to do to make an RPG is create some sort of means of character advancement. (Or not. The old-school Call of Cthulhu game didn't have any character advancement. If anything, the fact that you went slowly insane made you weaker over time. You adventured to learn the dark secrets of the world, and information was your only reward.)