Wizards of the Coast likes to cross the streams

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just re-release it."

That may very well be the motto of Wizards of the Coast. I can't say for sure, I've never been in their offices, but that does seem to be their formula for success. It's not just from a product standpoint either, it also applies to their game design philosophy.

If you compare the Pokemon card game and Magic: The Gathering, you'll quickly notice how similar the games are. They both use a finite resource (Lands in Magic and Energies in Pokemon) to pace the game and the manipulation of those resources can "swing" the game in one player's favor. With Magic, Richard Garfield and his team had stumbled onto a system that was infinitely malleable and with the five colors designed to balance one another out, a network of checks and balances formed over time. WotC's R&D department mined this when designing Pokemon. With fluffy cuddly anime creatures in place of gothic horror and medieval trappings, they could sell their core game to a whole new audience of little kids and video gamers.

Now let's look at Dungeons & Dragons for a second. D&D employed an ever expanding system of dice, maps, counters, and character sheets. It evolved over time and from publisher to publisher to include new varieties of dice and more complex, intricate rules. The more complex it got, the more potential there was for character nuance. There were only a handful of classes early on, but by the time we got Third Edition, there were several options for players of all personality types. Hand to hand fighters could embrace the Monk class rather than just be "yet another fighter" and spell casters could now come in a plethora of flavors, whether they be religious in nature like the cleric or arcane in nature like the sorcerer.

WotC's Third Edition D&D products were big sellers and the d20 system itself caught on the same way a game development kit like the Unreal engine might. It could be shaped to any setting with just a few tweaks and changes to terminology. So when Star Wars original tabletop outing from West End Games flopped, who do you think was there, ready to graft their coveted new d20 system onto an established (and very profitable) property?

Oh, and did I mention Star Wars Episode One was on the horizon?

 The Star Wars Role Playing Game was quite a brilliant little piece of plastic surgery. If you peel back the layers even the tiniest bit, the game's D&D roots show through, and not just because of the dice and character sheets. Magic employed by spell casters in D&D was converted into The Force. Rather than the limitations brought on by spells per day, players had to spend "force points" to commit feats like grabbing a weapon that had been knocked from one's hand or zapping a foe with lightning.

Speaking of Force Lightning, the morality/alignment system that had been a staple in D&D was modified quite cleverly into a Light Side/ Dark Side mechanic. Characters who enacted heinous deeds would become drawn to and corrupted by the dark side of the force, a curse that could sometimes manifest in deformities and other grotesque punishments.

(One thing I really dig about the Star Wars d20 game is how the whole game can be played from one core rulebook. No monster manual or dungeon master's guide required, although there are Star Wars-themed equivalents if you want to expand your universe and go beyond the films.)

I'll always refer to myself as a dungeon master, but if I were to tally all the hours spent in either of the two primary d20 settings, my time in the stars fighting the Empire probably dwarfs my time fighting beholders and kobolds. This was the game that taught me how to run a game as well. After a friend and I attended a game session featuring some of the "cooler, older high school kids", I saw how a DM (or GM in the case of Star Wars) conducted oneself and how communication with the players and setting a scene could enthrall a group of people.

Anyway, kudos to WotC, soulless corporation that I'm sure they are, for perfecting a formula and unleashing it on my pre-teen mind. They might paint your trash gold and try to sell it back to you, but remember: as much as you might take issue with the changes in Fifth Edition or Sixth Edition or whatever they're on at this point, there's some dork like you who's going to experience it for the first time.

Thanks for reading!
Twitter: @ChrisBComics
E-Mail: backissuechris@gmail.com

Magic: The Gathering flashes in my memory

Obviously I don't have enough blogs, even between my comic book ramblings at Back Issue Diving and my wrestling analysis at Work/Shoot, so here goes another one. This is a special place for all of my tabletop gaming memories, be they sweet or sour.

I was quite awkward in my youth and social interaction didn't come naturally, so gaming was my escape. Whole new worlds were contained between the covers of DM Guides and sourcebooks, and in those worlds I could become something more than myself. Brave, strong, smart, and imposing . . . everything I wasn't as a pudgy lad.

Before pen and paper role playing games enveloped me, collectible card games were my "in" at the local game shop. (Armchair Commanders in Corpus Christi, R.I.P.) I'd fiddled with Pokemon, mostly just collecting the cards and scouring the schoolyard for holofoils, but the real beginning of my paper passion was the old standby, Magic: The Gathering.

The game itself began life in 1993, but players were well into the Masques and Invasion blocks by the time I cracked my first booster. I *think* the preconstructed deck pictured above was the first purchase I made, but I also remember getting a box full of junk cards from a schoolmate, so I can't say.

I saw the similarities in game design between my two card game hobbies right away; Pokemon had energy cards while Magic had lands, Pokemon had trainer cards while Magic had instants and sorceries. I'm sure it was a bumpy transition at first, but soon enough I was piloting a white weenie deck against my friends, using Angelic might to purify the land and scorch my foes with my holy light.

Pokemon slid farther and farther into my rearview as I became engrossed with the Magic saga, thanks in no small part to the stunning artwork that has always been a staple of the game. Wizards of the Coast, the game makers, spare no expense in getting the best mind-blowing art that blends Tolkien's fantasy stories with the stranger settings of Marion Zimmer Bradley. There's even a bit of steampunk in there from time to time, thanks to the Goblins and their zany inventions.

I would eventually meld my love of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons of Dragons into a lengthy roleplaying campaign using the setting from a few of the magic sets, chiefly the Odyssey and Onslaught blocks. That's my "golden era" of Magic. Those cards, those decks, those dark themes . . . that's the stuff I always go back to whenever I feel the tingle to get in the mix again.

I did buy some cards last year and I have to say, as much as things in Magic might change from a minutia perspective, the game is basically the same. I was back to battling after only a few hands.

As I dive deeper into my personal history with tabletop games and CCGs, I hope to find a common link between them. There's something scientific in these games, something that plays havoc with my brain chemistry and keeps me coming back every few years. Anyhoo, thanks for reading and hit me up on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) for more frivolity.