Table of Contents

• Shadow Academy Set
  
• Sith Tests
  
• Character Weapons
  
• New Alternative Image Card
  
• What's Next?
  

Shadow Academy Set

The long awaited, at least by me, Shadow Academy set has been released. When I released the DB Core set the primary objective was to confirm I could build one of each of the primary card types within the GEMP engine and have them function properly.

This adds 30 new cards to the game, which can be viewed via our Scomp Link file.

With the Shadow Academy set my new objective was to create a new game play experience that is unique to the DB:CCG game. This resulted in the creation of the Sith Test card type.

I further expanded my own knowledge with the creation of a Used or Lost card type and introducing more of the game play elements that I anticipate most members will request; their own character matching weapons.

This set took longer than I anticipated. Mainly due to the additional time needed to learn and implement the complicated coding for the new Objective, converting the Jedi Test code to function for the Sith Tests, ensuring a balancing of game play, and making updates to the DB Core set to function with the new cards.

Sith Tests

For those familiar with the original game the Dagobah expansion set introduced Jedi Tests.

These cards allowed you to train a character card to become a 'Jedi' (or at least a more powerful character card) and obtain unique bonuses that modify the game play. At the time, before the release of the prequels, we had no concept of Sith training.

SW:CCG was discontinued shortly after the release of The Phantom Menace and never introduced a comparable game play mechanic for the Dark Side. Probably due to the Rule of 2 resulting in the Sith Apprentice being extremely powerful within the game.

However, for the DB:CCG, where many of our members are leveling up their characters this would be a fun mechanic to explore. Thus, the Sith Tests were created.

These functional similarly to the Jedi Tests. The one different is the Jedi Test operated on Dagobah, which was difficult for Dark Side players to navigate to. The Sith Tests take place on Arx which has several avenues for Light Side players to deploy and move to. This fits into the fictional environment that if you're going to level up in the Dark Side you're going to have to be quick, secretive, and face challenges early on.

Character Weapons

One of the unique game play mechanics in the Star Wars: Customizable Card Game is matching weapons to characters. Darth Vader isn't quite the same without his iconic lightsaber. There are also Effect cards in the game that allow you to search your reserve deck and deploy matching weapons on characters (as well as ships tease for the future) that can make your deck more impactful.

in addition to character weapons, the Shadow Academy set sees the release of the first DB:CCG character card with a permanent weapon. This means the character card will always have a weapon available to fire.

Please forgive me but I promised my eldest that his card would come out in this set.

New Alternative Image Card

As with the release of the DB Core set I've introduced a new alternative image card.

These cards function the same as the primary card but with an alternative image. In this case, Idris with his helmet on and Kai with a cloak. The benefit is that these cards can be utilized as rewards for competitions and provide a unique way to display your card collection.

What's the phrase...gotta catchcollect'em all?

What's Next?

We're preparing to open up a new request portal on the admin screen to allow you to request custom cards. This is naturally subject to the availability of James to make the necessary code pushes to the site. The Trello board behind the scenes has been created.

Cards will be created utilizing the following rules DB:CCG Creation Rules.

While there will always be exceptions for the sake of balancing game play or story arcs (e.g., The Children of Mortis or Positions over Rank) I strive to adhere to these rules while creating cards.

Finally, as I look towards the future, the next set will most likely be the Great Hutt Expansion. This was the last major event I ran within Scholae Palatinae and to help ground myself on the characters (who wants to start a plot with someone being a Twi'lek and end it with them being a human), the settings, and to show the characters to the clan so they'd be more 'real' and easier to write.

Since the artwork is already done I'll just be tweaking the game play mechanics and building the cards. Equally, I'm going to minimize the introduction of objective cards for major events given those require significant coding and alignment of effects, interrupts, and game text in other cards to support or hinder those activities.

Until next time, Shuffle up and Deal!