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F:AT Presents the SUMMONER WARS Design-a-Mercenary Contest!!!

Written by Michael Barnes February 15, 2010 Hits: 2039 Favorites

F:AT Presents the SUMMONER WARS Design-a-Mercenary Contest!!!

HERE IT IS, folks, the opportunity of a lifetime. Fortress: Ameritrash, in conjunction with Plaid Hat Games is offering you a chance to design a card for their great SUMMONER WARS game. Yes, that's right. Your name in lights. More than that, it is your chance to do F:AT proud and show the world what we're all about- awesomeness in gaming.

See, Colby Dauch (aka screamingtruth), the game's designer, came to me and said "Barnes, I just have no idea what to do next. We've got these VANGUARDS and FALLEN KINGDOM expansion sets coming out for SUMMONER WARS and I'm drawing a blank on new mercenary cards for future sets. I'm totally out of ideas! I mean, I've got an evil swordsman made of rutabagas and a halfling that attacks with felicitous rejoinders, but I have no idea where to take this thing. Can F:AT come to my rescue?"

"Yes, Colby. We will do you proud" was my response. So now, I pass the buck on to you, F:AT. But fret not, this is a mercenary gig so there is compensation. Yes, marvelous prizes, worldwide renown, and the accolades of many beautiful women*. Even better, the best submitted unit will actually put into production as part of the SUMMONER WARS world.

Now, this is a contest so there's rules. And there are as such.

Design a mercenary unit for SUMMONER WARS. Come up with a physical description of the unit (such as "made of rutabagas") as well as the unit's attack value, life points, summon cost and special ability (such as "attacks with felicitous rejoinders"). Submit this entry along with your name and shipping address via email to Colby at Plaidhatgames.com on or before March 1st.

But Barnes, say you. I haven't played SUMMONER WARS. Well, that's a tragic mistake. But you can correct it by taking a look at the rulebook over that at Plaid Hat Games' website. It ain't hard. Besides, if you win, you get a couple of copies of the game so you can rectify your lapse in gaming judgment.

Now, the prizes.

1st Place: Your design goes into production and you get 5 copies of whatever product it appears in. You also receive 2 copies of each of the Starter Sets and 2 copies of each of the upcoming Vanguards Faction Pack and Fallen Kingdom Faction Pack.

2nd Place: 1 copy of each of the Starter Sets and 1 copy of the upcoming Vanguards Faction Pack and Fallen Kingdom Faction Pack.

3rd Place: 1 copy of each of the Starter Sets.

The future release prizes will be sent upon their release.

So there it is F:AT. Our first big contest. Do us proud. Make your mark on gaming history. Discuss at leisure below. But you're not going to get any of my ideas.

Legal crap: By submitting an entry to this contest you are granting all intellectual property and copyrights for your entry to plaidhatgames.com.

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Hatchling said:

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Is this contest international or US only? (I'm in Canada)

February 15, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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International.

February 15, 2010

metalface13 said:

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Is there a limit to the number of entries?

February 15, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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One entry per person please. You can make as many mercenaries as you'd like, just submit your best one. smilies/wink.gif

February 15, 2010

metalface13 said:

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Oh once you see my submission you're going to want me to design your whole next set of expansions! smilies/cool.gif

BTW are the next sets going to be released together in one box like the starter sets or will they be sold individually?

February 15, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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They will be sold individually. So you don't have to re-buy all of the bits.

February 15, 2010

Eirikr said:

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How detailed do you we have to be. Do you want stats (casting cost/attack dice etc.) included. I would assume that the winning card will have to be playtested and adjusted accordingly at the very least. This is awesome by the way Colby. Thanks.

February 15, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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Give the full stats. I will make any changes necessary to the final unit for balance and wording tightness, but I will try to keep it as close to the spirit of the entry as possible.

February 15, 2010

Hatchling said:

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Entry sent! smilies/cool.gif

February 15, 2010

metalface13 said:

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that was fast

February 15, 2010

Grudunza said:

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I don't think I'll be submitting anything... too busy with other stuff right now... but I really appreciate the opportunity and look forward to seeing what the winning entry ends up being.

February 16, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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I wanted to assuage some fears. I don't sell customer information. I'm not collecting addresses for any reason other than sending you product if you win.

February 16, 2010

Michael Barnes said:

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Leave it to you guys to suss out all of the contest details neither I nor Colby thought of...

Anyway, I have a couple of awesome ideas that I just wanted to throw out there.

- A "Noble Human" that's like a knight or something. He's average on everything, but he gets a defense bonus because he has a shield. His main colors would be blue and silver.
- A "magical Elf", but to give it a twist, we'd spell it "Elph". He has a bow, so he'd get +1 ranged attack. Crazy, I know. But it just might work.
- A sexy characteress called Lady Sexhole. She would bring the va-va-voom in her chainmail bikini that almost exposes her naughty parts and gigantic breasts. But it's not sexist, because she would have a sword like the boys do.
- A SPoOkY Skeleton man that can't be hit by poking weapons. Here's the kicker- HE DOESN'T DIE BECAUSE HE'S "UN-DEAD".

I know these ideas are pretty out there, so I wouldn't expect to win. I can't anyway, but maybe these will inspire others to greatness.

February 16, 2010

Columbob said:

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I'm still searching for the asterisk reference after "the accolades of many beautiful women".

February 16, 2010

Michael Barnes said:

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OMG, legal loophole.

*the words "accolades", "many", "beautiful", and "women" are not legally binding and may be subject to interpretation.

February 16, 2010

metalface13 said:

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Barnes, you do realize the game includes elves and the next expansion will have skeletons right?

February 16, 2010

Michael Barnes said:

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Of course I do...I'm teasing Colby. ;-)

Like I said in my review, the only thing I didn't care for was the fairly generic fantasy setting. But that's me, and I do understand that it makes sense for a broader audience, which is what this game deserves.

The Phoenix Elves are pretty awesome...they're probably my favorite faction. They do have a unique twist, with the whole fire thing.

Kidding aside, I'd like to see some really interesting mercenaries, units that do some very "non-standard" things in the game. Since they're faction-neutral, there's a lot of potential for versatile units that would provide special effects outside the "toolboxes" of each faction- and possibly set up the potential for interesting combinations.

Like I was thinking about a sort of scout character that could neither attack or be attacked. His entire purpose would be to simply take up a space next to an enemy unit or to block. When its owner was ready to move into position, they'd pay a cost or something for the scout to go away.

I'd also like to see more manipulation of the magic decks, maybe some theft. Like a unit that drains a magic deck every turn it's on the opponent's first row.

And keeping with the Mercenary theme...how about a unit with a zero summoning cost that does MASSIVE damage per attack...but you've got to pay him a princely sum in magic every time you want him to fight.

February 16, 2010

metalface13 said:

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Perhaps I shall name my submission after you then Barnsey.

February 16, 2010

Hatchling said:

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boo for spoilers!

February 16, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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Like I was thinking about a sort of scout character that could neither attack or be attacked. His entire purpose would be to simply take up a space next to an enemy unit or to block. When its owner was ready to move into position, they'd pay a cost or something for the scout to go away.

I'd also like to see more manipulation of the magic decks, maybe some theft. Like a unit that drains a magic deck every turn it's on the opponent's first row.

And keeping with the Mercenary theme...how about a unit with a zero summoning cost that does MASSIVE damage per attack...but you've got to pay him a princely sum in magic every time you want him to fight.

Barnes, I swear to God you just named 3 units that are already in playtesting for the game. You described and Oaf an upcoming Cave Goblin common, ta Thief an upcoming common for the 'Cloaks' faction, and you kind of described an upcoming goblin champion that is free to bring out but costs magic each round to keep in and kind of described an upcoming mercenary unit that is powerful for a low cost but deals a damage to your own Summoner when killed. (Dark Pact)

Seriously. That is uncanny.

February 16, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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No edit button.

an Oaf,*
a Thief,*

February 16, 2010

screamingtruth said:

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Sorry for the triple post. I should make mention that this game has a few years worth of units in test play. If you happen to design something that I already have in the chute I won't dock you for it if it is the best entry, but contestants should understand that just because they submit an idea and don't win doesn't mean they won't see something similar to that idea come out down the road, as I may have already designed it. Thus the 'legal crap' line about submitting an entry being a relinquishment of any rights to that idea.

I will however say that if an idea that was submitted and didn't win should inspire me in the future to write a similar power, I will send off free copies of the product to the contestant. Just remember that I've already got a lot of powers in the hopper for this game so I may have beat you to the punch on an idea, as I did Barnes.

February 16, 2010

InfinityMax said:

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I'll vouch for Colby here, because we go back a ways and he's a good friend. If he says he'll do right by you, he will, and he if says he already came up with a power, he did. Me, I would cheat you rotten, but Colby's one hell of a stand-up guy.

Totally kick-ass contest, by the way.

February 17, 2010

Michael Barnes said:

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Barnes, I swear to God you just named 3 units that are already in playtesting for the game.

Dude, I'm awesome like that. I came up with the idea for THE MATRIX around 1991.

An "oaf"...heh heh, I like that.

February 17, 2010

Jarvis said:

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Coming up with an idea for a movie about someone who chooses between two pills does not mean you came up with the Matrix.

February 22, 2010

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