Learn from Dean Takahashi, and other experts how to protect your game against pirates and cheaters.Which place does your company rank in the AI adoption curve for AI? To find out, take our AI survey.Once I was afraid that Magic: The Gathering would endanger Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast saved it. Now, the granddaddy of trading cards games is headed to the Forgotten Realms of Faern with its Dungeons.Wizards of the Coast today showcases more cards from the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Set, which launches July 8, on Magic: The Gathering Arena, and July 23, in paper. Adventures in the Forgotten Realms will introduce Dungeons to the card-game, in addition to Drizzt Doom, Tiamat and Lolth the Spider Queen.James Wyatt, senior game designer (who also worked on the 3rd Edition City of the Spider Queen as well as Draconomicon), and Meris Mullaley, worldbuilding designer, showed off a few of the sets cards last week to the media. The three Dungeons with their Venture mechanic demonstrated how Magic is approaching the integration of Realmslore into this set.Dungeon divingGamesBeat - Image CreditThe Dungeons are adaptations and campaigns of D&D modules that were published in 5th Edition, among other publications.The Lost Mine of PhandelverTomb of AnnihilationDungeon of Mad Mage (also known as Undermountain).You will need a card to tell you to Venture into the Dungeon. To do this, you choose one of the Dungeons and place a marker in the top room. Wyatt explained in a video briefing that every Venture you make, you move one level further into the Dungeon.Each player can have their own Dungeons so that they can explore the Lost Mine of Phandelver simultaneously (two people could do this in a 1-on-1 match, while three or four could play in a Commander match). One, two, or all three can be active simultaneously. You can either explore another area or go deeper into the one you have with Venture.There are many options in these Dungeons. There are many options. You can choose which one to explore and which route you follow. To gain a terrible benefit, you must sacrifice cards, artifacts, or your life in order to enter the Tomb of Annihilation. This is similar to the theme of the lich Acereraks Deathtrap. This dungeon is interesting to me because Acererak was a card from Spellfire back in the 1990s, which was D&D's failed answer for Magic.The Halasters Dungeon offers more options, but it is slower to complete (as expected given the many levels of Undermountain).Wyatt stated that if you select Dungeon of the Mad Mage then you will be in the dungeon for quite a while exploring the Undermountain holes. To complete the entire journey, you will need seven Ventures. However, you have many options as you travel.Dungeons can be a great way to bring D&D into Magic. Since 1991's The Ruins of Undermountain, the mainstay of the Realms, Undermountain has been published by Wizards of the Coast in several adventure books, campaign sets and game books. There is even a board game about Undermountain.To take advantage of these Dungeons, the Magic team will use its existing mix of artifacts and creatures.GamesBeat - Image CreditVenture interacts with a wide range of cards, including Common [rarity] with cards like Shortcut Seeker. This hits that classic trope that look, there's a trapdoor underneath the rug. Wyatt stated. Venture is a strong theme that can be found across all rarities. This gives players plenty of opportunities to explore Dungeons.I wanted to know if Dungeons have any special loot, such as a Sphere of Annihilation that can be used for the Tomb of Annihilation. On the phone, a spokesperson for Wizards said that we would have to wait and watch on this.Give me lots of land!Lands are another way to get the feel of the Forgotten Realms. Even if it is not apparent at first glance, all Basic lands have Faern-related art and text.The alternate land cards are really fascinating. Evolving Wilds is a Magic staple. This treatment captures the look of classic D&D modules like The Keep on the Borderlands. It even has the lavender-ish color.GamesBeat - Image CreditThese lands will be nine in total, with eight new names.This is the Classic Module land frame. Mullaley stated that these are borderless module lands with art that is reminiscent the classic Dungeons & Dragons cover art. They are all lands. There are nine. The Evolving Wilds one is the main, and all nine lands are new. Their names sound like adventures, so they're called Evolving Lands.Some Basic lands raised concerns when I saw them. The Forest does not scream Forgotten Realms, and the text doesn't add any flavor. It looks like it could be used in any other Magic set.As we do with any Magic set, we did a complete concept push. There is already plenty of artwork showing what the Forgotten Realms look like. Wyatt stated that there are not necessarily many pieces of art or color art to establish the appearance of certain geographical regions, such as the Evermoors or the Spine of the World or the High Forest. These lands point to specific areas that we created in the world map. However, I believe that the forest is an example of Elven architecture and not a particular place.If I remember correctly, there are three types of land cycles: one that displays a settlement of different peoples of Realms, one which is just a wilderness area and one that contains ruins from ancient civilizations. There is definitely a lot Realms flavor. It's not always obvious, but it's there.Who is the set for?GamesBeat - Image CreditThis set of cards was shown off by Wyatt and Mullaley. I, along with others at the briefing, wondered who it was for. Are they trying to entice Magic players into buying something new? Are Realms lovers Wizards want to push into Magic? Or people like me who love both of Wizards' big properties.Mullaley stated that it would be like meeting a new plane, even if you are familiar with Magic, but not with Dungeons & Dragons. It is designed for Standard play and will work with all the Standard sets. While we did create a few new mechanics that were inspired by Dungeons & Dragons play, the set plays more like a Magic set. It has the same creature types as you're used to and is the standard exciting Magic gameplay. The flavor of the world happens be Dungeons & Dragons.We hoped that as you play this, something that might have been a deep-cut reference for a friend might spark a little curiosity for yourself.A Legendary character, the Dragonborn Knight Nadaar, Selfless Paladin, is one card that concerns me. They were created specifically for this set. Why would you make characters when there is official material back to 1987's Grey Box set? Realms fans love the characters they have come to know over the years such as The Simbul or Manshoon the savage wizard Manshoon or gods like Bhaal.Wyatt stated that Wyatt hopes to be able to do both. There are many goals to reach when putting Legends together. We want to hit nostalgia but also achieve diversity milestones. This is in an effort of making sure that the set reflects our audience and the game today, not 25 years ago. We are definitely trying to achieve both.Yesterday, Magic's head designer Mark Rosewater published a blog that addressed my concerns. These are:A Legendary creature that creates a Legendary Hamster creature token. This must be Minsc & Boo (the beloved duo from Baldurs Gate).A card that creates a Legendary creature token called Vecna. While Vecna is often associated more with Greyhawk than with the Realms (while Vecna may be more closely associated to the Realms), the lich is a well-known figure in D&D and was featured in Critical Roles.A creature that has a death trigger and makes an equipment token. This could be a Gelatinous Cube containing the remains of an adventurer.This mana can only be used to activate Dragon abilities or cast Dragon spells (or from an Orb for Dragonkind).Creature bird bear (this must be an Owlbear).Creature Elf Spider (this must have been a Drider as Lolth curses Driders to be both elf and spider and all horror).Legendary Creature Devil God (this must have been Asmodeus, who has been playing with the Realms since a while now).Legendary Creature BeholderYesterday, Wizards of the Coast also released a list of people who will be able to preview cards and the date that they'll show them off.One problem is that Wizards doesn't make cards with either the Party or Adventure mechanics.Update, 12:41 PM Pacific: Adding reporting about Party and Adventure mechanics of past sets.
