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Messages - N.A. Larson

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31
Making Cards / Re: Question about card printing quantities.
« on: February 28, 2017, 07:00:52 am »
And here's some official cards you might be interested in printing:
https://github.com/secretshipfic/Mini-Expansions?files=1

32
Showcase / Re: Write-In Cards
« on: February 22, 2017, 09:54:44 am »
TSSSF is different from MtG, Yugioh, etc., because while those games have some backstory, gameplay does not advance that story. In TSSSF, you actually build stories as you play, thus it is important to have characters (and situations) you care about. This is the main reason I don't play with all the cards at once (the other of course is unfun mechanics).

There are probably as many Pony cards as all other types combined (confirmation coming soon), but I wouldn't call the market "flooded," as there are still many canon characters that don't have even ONE card. Soarin'. Hoity Toity. Nurse Redheart. Cherry Jubilee. The list goes on. Sketch Cards are an easy way to get these characters into the game for those who want them.

Goal and Ship art is harder/more expensive to commission than Pony card art because they will usually involve multiple characters, doing something specific, possibly in a specific setting. Also, most artists who offer at-con sketch commissions will usually be doing character sketches.

33
Showcase / Re: Write-In Cards
« on: February 18, 2017, 01:54:10 pm »
Thanks!

Although these cards can be used for playtesting, they are intended to be final products. These cards are a quick and easy way for players to add their OC or favorite background pony to the game. Limiting the choice of card power to the 6 standard ones eliminates the need for playtesting, and being able to draw art directly on the card eliminates the need to use the card generator and a printing company.

If it’s playtesting you’re interested in, you’re better off using scraps of paper and sliding them into card sleeves in front of existing cards (they don’t even have to be TSSSF cards, just roughly 2.5”x3.5”). If you’re working on new card mechanics, you’ll be making a lot of changes, so this is much cheaper/easier.

I don’t plan to make write-in versions of the Ship and Goal cards because most people want characters, and Ships and Goals represent situations (which btw are also harder/more expensive to commission). Also, writing good Goal requirements can take a lot of trial and error.

34
Conventions / Re: TFF (Texas Furry Fiesta) 2017
« on: February 17, 2017, 10:02:01 pm »
There's more than that... we're in the process of putting all the printed cards into a spreadsheet, so stay turned ;)

35
Drawing Board / Re: Commissioning artist, need style feedback.
« on: February 08, 2017, 12:41:59 pm »
C3. I strongly encourage you to playtest those cards before printing them, because it is unknown how far into development this set was when Horrible People stopped working on it. What they released could be anywhere between a rough draft and a final draft.

36
Showcase / Write-In Cards
« on: January 04, 2017, 07:52:30 pm »
This is my take on a write-in card for TSSSF. I've modified the format to make it more conducive to handwriting/hand-drawing. Here is the bleed file so you can print your own for personal AND commercial use. That’s right; you may print and sell this card. Also, if you come up with anything good, be sure to post it below (keeping in mind this site's PG-13 rating).







Here's an example of how to use this card (commissioned from Trish Forstner http://animatedvisions.com/):





1. Name:

This is the name of your character. If it's different than the name most people would know them as, add their usual name as a keyword.

2. Gender Symbol:

Male, female, both, or none (leave blank).

3. Race Symbol:

There are 4 in-game races: Alicorn, Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn. Non-pony characters are assigned to one of these races based on whether they have horns and/or wings, and their actual race is added as a keyword. If the character does not resemble a living creature, you may leave this symbol blank (such characters usually get the Object keyword).

4. Timeline Symbol:

This denotes that the character is from an alternate timeline. The most common alternate timeline is the Dystopian Future (hourglass).

5. Art Box:

Your character should be the focus of this art. Also, be sure to get the artist to sign their work.

6. Keywords:

If there are any keywords (Princess, OC, Mascot, etc.) that would help this card count toward existing Goals, add them here. For a list of the most commonly used keywords, please refer to Section 7 in the TSSSF Style Guide. Note: Keywords, including name keywords and racial keywords, should be arranged alphabetically.

7. Reminder Text

If there is something the player should know about this card, such as the number of Ponies it counts as, put that text here.

8. Power Name

The power name is used to explain why the power makes sense for your character.

9. Power Type

To save space, the 6 standard Pony powers are listed here for you to choose from (If you don’t know what they do, please refer to 2.6.3-2.6.8. in the TSSSF Style Guide). “Special” has been omitted for two reasons. The first is the amount of space it would take to write out. The second is that Special powers require some trial and error to get right, so by using a standard power you are guaranteed a playable card, which is especially important if you already paid for an art commission.


37
Making Cards / Re: Newbie questions about printing
« on: October 04, 2016, 07:01:21 am »
We just finished reviewing them and they should be up later today.

38
Matchmaker / Re: Experienced Shipfic Designer Here!
« on: September 19, 2016, 04:52:40 pm »
I would want to confer with the resident masters as it were to give me the once-over.

Ithry won't steer you wrong!

39
Matchmaker / Re: Experienced Shipfic Designer Here!
« on: September 18, 2016, 10:09:40 pm »
Thematically, I feel they do work best as ponies, especially considering the artwork that had been made of them. Mechanically, though, I feel it would be easy to make them as mirrors to Love Poisons: ship cards with optional alternate effects. Personally I feel there's a lot of room left for optional powers on ship cards (and IIRC there aren't as many ship cards as there are pony cards anyway, so adding to that deck wouldn't be a bad idea).

Western is correct: they do go in the Pony deck (check out the card-backs file in the GitHub).

There IS room for more optional powers on Ship cards (Conflicting Headcanons in BC's Con Life set had a Shipwreck-like power), but as written the Shipwrecks would be bad in the Ship deck, because they aren't Ship cards and their power isn't optional. The number of actions you can make on your turn is equal to the number of Ship cards in your hand. If you can't activate any powers to get more Ship cards (and you don't have any Replacers), then you can make 3 actions. If one of those is a Shipwreck, then you can make two, and the third will only let you discard part of the grid. While there can be strategic advantage to discarding cards from the grid, in this regard a Shipwreck is worse than a Love Poison, because the Love Poison will also give you a Pony power activation. Also, the Love Poison can be optionally played as a normal ship (as of Core 1.1.5).

Now you may be asking: If a Shipwreck is a dead card in hand as a Ship, isn't it also a dead card in hand as a Pony? Technically yes, but the hand size is DESIGNED for this. Going back to the previous example, barring getting more Ship cards or using Replace powers, you can only make 3 actions per turn, which means you can only play up to 3 of the 4 Pony cards in your hand. This means you will usually end your turn with at least one Pony card that you can’t play. Thus, the size and makeup of a TSSSF hand makes it possible to save strategically important cards for later.

TL;DR: Horrible People intended Shipwrecks for the Pony deck, and they probably work better there.


the alt-art Druid Fluttershy that... I forget who made using unused official art.

'Twas I!


I want to make sure what I've got fits within the established rules and guidelines and all.

Be sure to check out our TSSSF Style Guide, if you haven't already ;)

40
General Discussion / TSSSF Spinoffs in Other Fandoms
« on: September 13, 2016, 07:12:14 pm »
If you could remake TSSSF with characters from another franchise, what would you pick? What WOULDN'T you pick? I'll get the ball rolling:

Ever wish you could ship Wally with the Pointy-Haired Boss? Or Alice with her even-tempered doppelganger from another dimension? You can, in Asok's Secret Shipfic Folder!





P.S. Blame Jouva

41
Making Cards / Re: Newbie questions about printing
« on: September 12, 2016, 09:44:12 pm »
My current plan is: print the 1.1.5 ed. core deck

I wanted to point out that Core 1.1.6 is already available for printing (and likely available for purchase at Nightmare Nights). If you're wondering what we changed, here's the errata. I'm hoping to get Extra Credit and Ponyville U uploaded this week.


it has me wondering if I should order a box for these things

I'm with Ithry: you'd be better off buying a trading card box. Check your local comic/card store.


just houserule it to always activate.

Why would you houserule Online Chat Room? Don't you WANT to have an edge on your friends? :3

42
General Discussion / Banned Cards List
« on: September 12, 2016, 09:19:31 pm »
Are there any cards you've played with, and had to remove from your deck, or fix by adding house rules? I've found that the one-activation-per-turn rule suggested by HPG solves a lot of problems (like Freedom Fighter Pinkie and Cheerilee). At first I was skeptical that it would be too restrictive, but then I remembered that "the specific overrides the general," so cards that say a card's power would activate (most notably Love Poisons) still work, which allows for some fun combos. Even still, I've found some cards to be too powerful or otherwise make the game less fun*.

Blazin’ Hot Wildfire (2014 Con Exclusive):
Some men just want to watch the world burn, and when one of them is in your playgroup, you can’t play with Wildfire. I’ve talked before about the importance of slicers**, but this card just makes it too easy to remove large portions of the grid. Pinkamena’s effect is at least limited to the ships touching the Pony card she caused to be discarded, but Wildfire can cause up to 3 Pony cards to be discarded, which could directly affect up to 10 ships, or affect ships in unrelated parts of the grid. Also, her power is single-purpose***, as opposed to Love Poisons, which can be used to activate Pony powers.

Breezies (2015 Con Exclusive):
There are a bunch of Goals that require playing a certain number of Ponies or making/breaking a certain number of ships, and this card makes them trivial to achieve, especially when you consider race/keyword/timeline-change ships. (I once playtested a card that counted as 3 Ponies, and it had the same problem. 2 Ponies seems to be the limit).

Cider Matron Apple Bloom (2014 Con Exclusive):
I once played a very long game where this card was used a lot. I suspect that activating this card’s power sapped the players of the resources they needed for the newly revealed Goals, but I need more data to confirm this. In the meantime, this card is sidelined.


*What constitutes a “fun” varies widely from player to player and group to group.
**cards that have powers which can cause Ship cards to be removed from the grid. The nickname comes from Aria’s power in the No-Holds-Barred expansion.
***Of course, slicers are pretty much the only way to get Ship cards into the discard pile so you can search for them ;)

43
Conventions / Re: Nightmare Nights Dallas 2016
« on: September 09, 2016, 02:33:14 pm »
Welcome! I'll be handing out the CofK promo cards and also Inconvenient Trixie at Nightmare Nights! I'd love to play some TSSSF, too!

44
General Discussion / Re: What Are Your Favorite TSSSF Cards?
« on: August 31, 2016, 07:20:45 pm »
Pony:
Jumpin' Jack Flash Sentry (Gracious Givers Set 2)
A good card can appeal to me emotionally or intellectually, but a great card has to do both. Jumpin' Jack Flash Sentry is my favorite because all of its design elements come together beautifully.

JJFS combines his human counterpart’s guitar playing with the waifu-stealer meme to cast him as a swaggering rock star in the vein of Rolling Stones legends Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones. The card name, power name, and flavor text are all Rolling Stones references, but are still amusing even to those unfamiliar with their music. The mechanic follows from the power name, and together with the flavor text and keyword establish his personality.

The mechanic itself is very interesting. JJFS is a slicer, meaning that its power can cause Ship cards to be removed from the grid. Slice powers are an integral part of the game because they allow players to manage the grid size, but when used too frequently (we all know that guy), players don’t feel like they can make any progress. This card strikes an interesting balance because it can be used to wipe the grid, but only if multiple players cooperate. This calls back to the communal nature of TSSSF.

The Seaponies (Brony Brewer Con Exclusive)
I DO want to call upon the seaponies. Especially when I need to play another male, female, or Earth Pony. Also, I love the art.

Fledgling Activist Princess Skyla (Tales of Ponyville University)
What if a random toy turned out to be the child of Cadance and Shining Armor, and what would she be like when she grows up? I've always been impressed by bronies’ ability to take the smallest detail and spin an entire mythos from it. Also, being an Alicorn Princess with Copy, this is a powerful card and I'm always glad to see it in my hand.

Ship:
Cabin in the Woods, Awooo! (Core)
I think the best Pony cards answer what-if questions, and the best Ship cards allow players to explore them. What if X and Y got stuck in a cabin in the woods? How did they get there? Why are they trapped? How will they escape? This is my favorite Ship card because of how the title and the art create a very vivid image of the scenario (and the “awooo” is very tongue-in-cheek). Also, the Play From Discard mechanic enables some fun combos.

What Did I Do Last Night?! (Core)
Unexpected Pregnancy (Core)

Each card in TSSSF tells a story, but players use them to tell their own stories. These are my second and third favorite Ship cards because they’re hilarious on their own, but can become even funnier based on what Ponies they're played with.

Goal:
Sadfic (Core)
This takes the fanfiction trope of exploring situations that would be too intense for the show, and subverts it with the trope of and canon characters pining for self-insert characters. Also, I sometimes wish Twilight and Trixie had more of an ongoing relationship than they do in the show (see also Star Student Twilight).

I like this Goal mechanically because it is fairly easy to achieve in combination with other Goals.

Internship (Tales of Ponyville University)
Pixel’s art is very expressive, and the art on this card speaks volumes: Discord’s smile says he’s going to enjoy bringing Scootaloo over to the Dark Side, and Scootaloo’s smile says she knows this is a bad idea, but is going to stick it out because she needs the money. Mechanic-wise, Internship combines two keywords with the set theme in a non-obvious way.

From Foreign Lands (No Holds Barred)
The few non-pony characters that have appeared in MLP:FiM are tantalizing hints of a larger world, just waiting to be explored. This Goal provides something to do with the non-pony characters (or Ponies with racial keywords, as they are defined in-game), and makes flavor sense because being outsiders gives the characters common ground.

Start:
Fanfic Author Twilight (Core)
Simple and classic. The art and flavor text set the tone for the rest of the game by capturing the essence of a fanfic writer. It is also the easiest Start card to play with because there is no small number of Goals in Core and the expansions that were designed for having Twilight Sparkle on the grid at all times (this is a design challenge that non-Twilight Start cards face).

Dizzy Frizzy, Patron Saint of Shippers (Children of Kefentse)
Basically what Ithry said. Plus, the art looks FANTASTIC against the black border.

Maybe Fanfic Author (“My DA Gallery,” Western & ArFaise)
As near as I can tell, this is what would happen if the game was hijacked by a random FimFiction user. All Start cards replace Twilight Sparkle as the fan-fiction writer, but the art on this one explains HOW it happened. The mechanic follows this theme, as does the flavor text.

45
Drawing Board / Joking Hazard/Cards Against Humanity-Style Variant
« on: August 16, 2016, 11:59:44 pm »
My friend Eddie recently remarked that there should be "style points" in TSSSF. I think one of the strengths of TSSSF is that players can ship whomever they please without consequence, but there is a certain satisfaction in playing a popular ship. So I got to thinking, how would you assign style points? Would players vote? Then I recalled that games where best pairings are chosen, like Cards Against Humanity, have a judge. Also, that Twitter post made me think a random ship generator might be pretty cool. This thought was inspired by the Cyanide and Happiness random comic generator, which was then developed into the game Joking Hazard. It was then that I realized TSSSF cards could be used for a similar style of game.

WARNING: I haven't playtested this very much, and it might not be very fun, which is why I posted it here in the Drawing Board. It is, however, interesting from a game design perspective.

Players: 3-???
Time: 1hr?
Materials: Pony and Ship cards only.

Ignore all card rules. Shuffle the Pony deck and deal 7 cards to each player. Shuffle the Ship deck. Decide which player will be the judge first. The judge reveals the top card of the Ship deck, then plays a Pony from their hand to the left or right of the Ship card to indicate that the action portrayed by the Ship card is being done by that Pony or to that Pony, respectively. For example, in the image below, Cult Leader Fluttershy is introducing her friend. If she had been played on the right side instead, she would be the one being introduced. Then, each other player submits the Pony they think best completes the ship face-down. The judge shuffles the submissions and then reveals them. The judge chooses the winner, and that player gets the Ship card. The first player to get 5 Ship cards wins.



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