Class-based Guaranteed Draw

I was trying to think of ways we could take some of the randomness out of the game and thought what might work is to give characters an additional guaranteed draw every turn based on their class. I'm thinking:

Wizard - Zap
Priest - Heal
Warrior - Block or Bludgeon (not sure which)

Later on, this could even be expanded to allow for specialization. Ice, Fire or Arcane wizard. Brawler, Fencer or Tank warrior. Healing, Support or War priest.

Anyway, the idea is that you'd always have something to do appropriate to your class. These auto cards would, ideally, be more beneficial in the early game and less consequential as you got into higher levels. Still useful, just not nearly as powerful.

 

I don't like the idea of an extra draw. I especially don't like the idea of a "useful" guaranteed card, as it takes away the pleasure ( and pain of course ) of the wait for the cards to come out of your deck. Randomness is part of the way the game plays and why I like it so much.

Just my two penn'orth, of course.

 

In my experience the pain is too prevalent and the pleasure comes with a few too many caveats.

 

Mr Intro, what about instead of it being an extra draw, you are just allowed to pick your guaranteed card? Limit it to a copper card, or a set choice of three. My mage could always draw a long spark and feel more magey. My elf with the sprint boots and scamper skill who totally doesn't need to draw a sprint every fricking turn could get a penetrating stab every turn and feel like a ninja. The cleric I don't take because he honks could get a heal every turn. I totally agree that no-attack turns are hella lame.

 

Why don't we just take cards out of the game alltogether? Then we can just call it "Choice Hunter" and it will be like all the other clone tactical RPG's out there...

 

Why don't we just all make fun of suggestions so instead of a Beta we can call it "Already Shipped Game that Doesn't Care About Feedback". Brainstorm ideas and feedback can't be wrong by definition. If it is a bad idea then it will die on the vine and be forgotten and nobody will care. If you jump on it the person will stop putting forth ideas and his next one might have been the best idea ever.

 

There's a big difference between suggesting balancing tweaks or desired features and suggesting that the developers nix the very mechanic that makes their game stand out (and in a very innovative and great way) from all the other drek out there. There is LOTS of drek out there, but (so far) only ONE Card Hunter. My vote is that we keep in Card Hunter what makes it Card Hunter.

 

How would one additional guaranteed card per turn make it "not Card Hunter?" You're overreacting. This is a suggestion meant to smooth the problem of random draws while simultaneously making classes a little more interesting.

 

There is already one guaranteed draw with movement cards. They only added that because it would be totally frustrating to play otherwise. So they made it so that you can at least move every round, which is fine. Everything else should be based on the luck of the draw. It's that very aspect of luck that makes Card Hunter what it is. Every additional guaranteed draw would take away from that immensely.

 

2 guaranteed cards, 3 random. You discard to 2 every turn. Still plenty of random. It's not an immense change, it just cuts back on the number of turns where you can do nothing. There should be enough randomness to be interesting, and there still would be. I don't see the problem you're seeing.

 

That would be almost HALF the cards not being random! 1/5 of them is fine and still leaves alot to the luck of the draw. 2/5 significantly lowers the luck factor and renders the game way less fun imo.

My point is that when a hand is only 5 cards (and that is fine for this game), EVERY SINGLE card counts.

 

Consider, also, that these cards wouldn't even be close to top-end.

Anyway, it changes nothing about the existing randomness since you'd still be getting the same number of random cards. You'd just have one more option that you could count on. That is to say, you could play a more strategic game more reliably instead of your strategy being wholly at the mercy of draws. Right now, you pray to have something to do. Often times, you don't. With a system like this, you'd always have at least one option, even if it's not the best option.

 

Trust me, as a player I know what you are getting at. But as the designers of the game, I'm sure BM were even grudging making even one of the cards of a guaranteed type. It totally goes against the very basic design of their game, and it's that design that makes this game so special. I can't stress that enough.

 

It goes (somewhat) against the design of a CCG. However, limiting randomness is integral for strategic gameplay. If Card Hunter were solely a CCG, it would be moot. But it's not. It's a CCG-Dungeon Crawl-Turn-based Strategy hybrid, and as such there ought to be consideration for every aspect of the game. Not one at the expense of another.

What I'm suggesting is a middle ground, where there's still more random than not, but players are given a few more options they can rely on in order to more routinely plan an effective strategy. This suggestion does not eliminate or even significantly reduce random elements. It does not diminish the importance of high-quality gear. It would not eliminate or even hinder the things about the game you're most excited about.

I can't stress that enough.

 

The more you go toward "middle ground", the farther you are away from what makes this game so fun. Besides, the "middle ground" in this game is the awesome and innovative way that the elements of a tactical RPG and CCG blend, WITHOUT sacrificing the awesomeness of either. Any more guaranteed types of cards in your hand threatens that.

And I get your point about them not being the best. So now, if they made the change you wanted, you could count on a mediocre move card and a mediocre attack (or whatever other kind that is set) card in your hand, out of FIVE. I'd rather have the extra chance of drawing that one awesome card.

 

This would be an additional free card. It would not replace any of the current draws. You would still have 3 random draws every turn that might help a bunch or might not. The only, only, only difference would be one additional card that you could count on. I'm trying to imagine why that would ruin the game, why it would undermine the awesome and innovative gameplay, and I just can't figure it out. A single additional, mediocre-yet-reliable card doesn't threaten anything.

 

My objection to your suggestion is that I do not share this opinion regarding my experience. I do have poor draws, but rarely enough to spice the game rather than sour it.

No! I expect to have something to do.

The example of a character with great boots came up: I choose my boots for the ratio of armor to movement, not for just the fastest moves. I choose my armor slots for interesting abilities that may not be armor, and between the two I find a good mix of armor and movement compared to action. In my currently favored party:

• the Warrior is 4/36 move cards, 8/36 defense cards for the front lines, and 20/36 attacks, plus two drawbacks and two card draws
• the Wizard is 3/36 move cards, 6/26 defense cards, and 23/36 attacks, plus four traits
• the Priest is 4/36 move cards (one of them Shift, Team!), 5/36 defense cards, and 26/36 either attacks or assist magic, plus a trait

With more than 2/3 of my decks being "active" cards the odds are better than 90% that a character draws something to do on any round. I can keep my armor (which won't be drawn while it's in my hand, further narrowing the odds) while discarding out-of-range attacks with confidence in replacing them. I don't have a knockout hand in every round, but that just means I learn to play what I do have for cumulative effect.

 

And at the point where you've got the equipment to support reliably good hands then the one extra ability you draw should be growing less and less relevant because you don't need it and it's not that great by comparison. I'm approaching the gear level where my hands are mostly not terrible, but it still happens often enough to be distressing. And that's after several days of grinding the same adventures because I couldn't make any progress otherwise.

Mainly, my goal is to bolster the early game when you have far fewer options. The abilities should be good enough that they provide at least something worthwhile to do (or some meaningful benefit), but not so good that they overshadow even moderately decent gear. Again, this won't have a negative impact on the game in any way.

 

I do not dismiss your experience, but for me that was the point that I signed up. I've never felt that I was not drawing enough "something to do." I've never felt that I couldn't refine my deck because the available slots were impossibly skewed. I might alter some individual battles, but I just do not perceive a need for more cards in the fundamental game, early or not.

(This ability, however mild the card, will persist into the late stages. An extra card in every round can never be irrelevant: consider "Immediately discard the target's two oldest revealed cards" when a player is drawing two automatically revealed cards every time. Or that against enemies with blocks, any attack can discard those blocks regardless of strength. Not to mention that to keep the rules consistent (same conditions in SP and MP if for no other reason) opponents will now have more cards to use. This is not to claim positive or negative, just pointing to a major shift in some basic issues of balance.)

 

Well, that could be addressed with some kind of clause that prevents you drawing another if it's still in your hand. So if you get your auto-draw priest Heal card and neither use nor discard it you will not draw a second until it's out of your hand. That could curb most abuse. Besides, you're most likely going to be keeping other, stronger cards in the later rounds (and levels) of play, so I don't think this would get too out-of-hand.