Book with card based battle systems?

[ThisAdamGuy]

I've always been fascinated by shows like Yugioh that use a game with established rules and various strategies and playstyles that the audience can understand as their means of conflict. I've always wanted to write one of my own, but I'm almost convinced they it can't be done in a text-based format. Yugioh gets away with it because it can show you what's happening while at the same time narrating what every card does, which lets it keep a quick pace (for an anime). I've tried copying that formula, but it resulted in an overly long and clunky story that basically went "Then Hero played a card that makes his monster throw a punch worth 800hp. It punched Villain's monster, whose defense was 200, lowering its hp by 600. Then Villain played a card that..."

The only other potentially viable way to do it would be to have everything play out in real time, but then you lose the slow, strategic gameplay that people enjoy card games for. At that point, it's basically Pokemon with cards instead of balls.

What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I’m trying to write a story similar to that but stripped away the ‘game’ aspect. It’s not that card magic system novels don’t exist. There is an entire eastern fantasy genre dedicated to how mages ‘summon’ using cards. Usually they can also create those cards and their effects.

Card magic systems are very common in fantasy stories. Mostly because what you summon can already have stats, abilities, and a personality that interacts with the story. Either through comedy like “thug goblins that have the ability to seal opponent’s cards” or “human warrior that wants to protect you”. Summoning is very fun to write since they KNOW what’s being summoned.

It’s not the same as having a familiar. There could be multiple copies of the same summon and your own could be different because you’re the one using it. Talking to it and evolving it by combining it with other cards and companions.

‘Spell Cards’ are even more common in novels since you are just giving people magic.

You could say that Card Magic is the most easiest system to write since exposition is in the card description. The characters reading it provides more information than if they randomly spoke out loud to their enemies what it does.

The gaming part of this is just suspending your disbelief enough that a card game can be a substitute to violence. It’s not hard to write. It just matters if you have the balls to go with the concept and not care about such questions.

 

[Nym]

I’m trying to write a story similar to that but stripped away the ‘game’ aspect. It’s not that card magic system novels don’t exist. There is an entire eastern fantasy genre dedicated to how mages ‘summon’ using cards. Usually they can also create those cards and their effects.

Card magic systems are very common in fantasy stories. Mostly because what you summon can already have stats, abilities, and a personality that interacts with the story. Either through comedy like “thug goblins that have the ability to seal opponent’s cards” or “human warrior that wants to protect you”. Summoning is very fun to write since they KNOW what’s being summoned.

It’s not the same as having a familiar. There could be multiple copies of the same summon and your own could be different because you’re the one using it. Talking to it and evolving it by combining it with other cards and companions.

‘Spell Cards’ are even more common in novels since you are just giving people magic.

You could say that Card Magic is the most easiest system to write since exposition is in the card description. The characters reading it provides more information than if they randomly spoke out loud to their enemies what it does.

The gaming part of this is just suspending your disbelief enough that a card game can be a substitute to violence. It’s not hard to write. It just matters if you have the balls to go with the concept and not care about such questions.

So the GREED ISLAND arc of hunterxhunter?

 

[Placeholder]

> What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

I think it is hard to do well. And doesn't need to be done at all.

Plus it puts barriers between the reader and the action.

Any other magical system is intrinsically more interesting to me.

I think it only gets interesting when you get involved in the mechanics of the card based magical system - get summoned as a card or such.

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

> What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

I think it is hard to do well. And doesn't need to be done at all.

Plus it puts barriers between the reader and the action.

Any other magical system is intrinsically more interesting to me.

I think it only gets interesting when you get involved in the mechanics of the card based magical system - get summoned as a card or such.

That depends on the system mechanics you use for it. The ‘card’ part just essentially means turning magic into a possession, and the ‘game’ part is its own genre. People playing games is what I find difficult to imagine, but the former is easier since it’s simplifying the magic system.

Depends on imagination and execution.

So the GREED ISLAND arc of hunterxhunter?

Now THAT is a good example. Honestly, I should just point to that if anyone asks again.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Anything is possible.

I recommend reading some fanfics to see how they pull it off.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

I've always been fascinated by shows like Yugioh that use a game with established rules and various strategies and playstyles that the audience can understand as their means of conflict. I've always wanted to write one of my own, but I'm almost convinced they it can't be done in a text-based format. Yugioh gets away with it because it can show you what's happening while at the same time narrating what every card does, which lets it keep a quick pace (for an anime). I've tried copying that formula, but it resulted in an overly long and clunky story that basically went "Then Hero played a card that makes his monster throw a punch worth 800hp. It punched Villain's monster, whose defense was 200, lowering its hp by 600. Then Villain played a card that..."

The only other potentially viable way to do it would be to have everything play out in real time, but then you lose the slow, strategic gameplay that people enjoy card games for. At that point, it's basically Pokemon with cards instead of balls.

What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

It can be pulled off surprisingly well. I think this fanfic of Yugioh does a good job of it: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/50757/a-frog-out-of-water-yu-gi-oh-gx

 

[Plantorsomething]

I've always been fascinated by shows like Yugioh that use a game with established rules and various strategies and playstyles that the audience can understand as their means of conflict. I've always wanted to write one of my own, but I'm almost convinced they it can't be done in a text-based format. Yugioh gets away with it because it can show you what's happening while at the same time narrating what every card does, which lets it keep a quick pace (for an anime). I've tried copying that formula, but it resulted in an overly long and clunky story that basically went "Then Hero played a card that makes his monster throw a punch worth 800hp. It punched Villain's monster, whose defense was 200, lowering its hp by 600. Then Villain played a card that..."

The only other potentially viable way to do it would be to have everything play out in real time, but then you lose the slow, strategic gameplay that people enjoy card games for. At that point, it's basically Pokemon with cards instead of balls.

What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

Look at Yugioh fanfics

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I've always been fascinated by shows like Yugioh that use a game with established rules and various strategies and playstyles that the audience can understand as their means of conflict.

Interesting example. I met a guy who was in Japan when the first issue of Yu-Go-Oh came out and he became friends with at least one of the guys behind it. It was MEANT as a parody of Pokemon but with the monsters in cards instead of balls. The first issue sold out so quickly, they had to make a second one, and thought that would be the end of it, when a larger publisher offered to reprint the first two books if they could commit to at least two more AND to developing it as a game...
They had no intention of making a real game and were surprised when the game outsold the book!

I've always wanted to write one of my own, but I'm almost convinced they it can't be done in a text-based format. Yugioh gets away with it because it can show you what's happening while at the same time narrating what every card does, which lets it keep a quick pace (for an anime). I've tried copying that formula, but it resulted in an overly long and clunky story that basically went "Then Hero played a card that makes his monster throw a punch worth 800hp. It punched Villain's monster, whose defense was 200, lowering its hp by 600. Then Villain played a card that..."

The only other potentially viable way to do it would be to have everything play out in real time, but then you lose the slow, strategic gameplay that people enjoy card games for. At that point, it's basically Pokemon with cards instead of balls.

What do you think? Can a purely card-based battle system be pulled off in a non-visual medium like a novel? Can you think of any stories that do that?

Not easily, but I think it was Tim Powers in "Last Call" who kind of did that - was not a battle game but a game of poker, and the cards were a Tarot Deck instead of a standard poker deck.

Also a few Westerns dealt with card games - just add fantasy elements onto that and you should have something that works. It may not be easy, and may take several revisions to be really readable but should be possible.