When it comes time to create a new set of cards we love thinking about what new thematic features we could explore within the realms of Sorcery and weaving them into the fabric of the game.
Obviously, the main theme we wanted to cover in Arthurian Legends was the knights themselves and connecting their stories to gameplay in a meaningful way. Honor, integrity, and valor all lie at the core of what makes Arthurian knights special and compelling, but how to bring that across in Sorcery without an overly complicated set of rules?
The answer was to distribute those qualities across different areas of the game, but one option that got us most of the way there was to split their power values into defensive and offensive numbers.
In Arthurian lore, the knights stand a bit taller than the normal cast with their bravado, prowess, honor, jealousy, duplicitousness, and so much more. Each one has a story and thus a lot of potential as minion characters in the game. We wanted to make sure that knights in Sorcery go forth on quests, protect your weaker minions, and do your bidding across the realm with those qualities (and themselves) intact.
While some of those qualities can be covered by special abilities, sometimes a simple adjustment to their attack or defense power can tell their story without a long suite of special abilities. Chivalrous knights can now be slightly more durable to protect your realm or take on bigger enemies, while aggressive or reckless knights can be more of a glass cannon. Having a split power rating makes these legendary characters interesting and pulls them forward slightly from the crowd of normal minions.
Split Power in Sorcery TCG
So how do they work? Those special minions that have split power have an offensive stat, or Attack Power, and a defensive one, known as Defense Power. Basically, when striking, use the first one, and when damage is being allocated to them, use the second.
Minions that have just one power value are considered to have the same value in both situations. Cards that modify a unit’s Power do so to both attack and defense power, so for example Overpower will increase both Attack and Defense Power by two.
Sorcery will continue to focus on simple minion designs, but every so often you’ll encounter a minion that makes you pause and take notice of them. We chose to risk a little complexity here to draw out the stories of the noble (and ignoble) knights of the round table and cement their status within the contested realm!
