The Decktet Wiki

In the sequence of cards version, I understand your suggestion suggestion this way: The first suit on a card contributes to one spell and the second contributes to a second spell.

This would mean that (unlike in Waving Hands) there would be an asymmetry between the two spell lines. The first spell could only contain a Knot with an Ace or Crown, since Knots are always listed second on number cards. Similarly, the second spell could only contain a Moon with an Ace or Crown. (There is an underlying order to the suits: Moons, Suns, Waves, Leaves, Wyrms, and Knots. When multiple suits appear on a card, they are in that order.)

The 2D grid idea sounds cool, but it would make simultaneous play more difficult. I can't now think of a way to secretly select both a card to play and a place to play it.

I think trying to use both suits in parallel would be too complicated — not only do you have to remember the sequences for all the spells, but also which combinations of suits are possible, and which haven't been played yet. Not my cup of tea.

On the other hand, if you use one card per hand, then the multiple suits kind of get in the way, making it ambiguous which spell is being cast. But maybe that could be worked into a positive aspect, somehow.

(You might want to discount my comments, though, because I don't think that Waving Hands is my kind of game. I've read about it before, but the idea of memorizing all those spell sequences would be a really unpleasant chore to me, evoking flashbacks of the hated "501 Irregular French Verbs" book I had in high school. Chacun a son gout.)

I gave the game a run through with two others (A three player game.). But we used the following modifications:

We used the original twenty four spells on this page, in the way they are said to be used the post below that.

Any time you cast a spell, you spend the runes on the card by discarding said card. If that means that some runes go to waste, then they go to waste.

To decide the order of turns, when each player plays their card (To get runes.), the player who played the highest numbered card goes first. Pawns were the same as two, aces were worth one, and crowns were worth 11. If someone played the excuse, then they would go first that turn. Play would then proceed in a clockwise motion.

The excuse worked as a special rune. You could use it in any spell to double the strength of said spell (As if you cast it twice.).

The game actually worked out very well. The only problem we found is that one two occasions out of the four games we played, one player would only draw one or two knots the whole game. And because only five spells can be cast without knots, they were knocked out extremely early on. In general though, we thought it was fun and we played it several times.

I tried a solo round to see how it goes. Basically the cards are shuffled (including pawns) and 5 cards are dealt to each player.

Each player selects one card secretly and places it face down on the table. When both are ready they reveal the card. If the card completes a spell then its effects are applied. Spells occur in order, the one with the highest ending card first. The cards have to be placed slightly on top of eachother so the sequence of suits for each hand is clearly seen.

Aces and crowns act as it they had two instances of the same suit, one for each "hand".

Pawns let you use any of the three suits in any hand (but just once each). Each time you activate an spell, the chosen suits can be differents so you don't have to keep track of which ones you chose before (so this card is pretty powerful).

Players track their hit points with a 10d dice (or smaller one for a shorter game) and other markers can be used for effects and creatures summoned.

The spells effects are as follows:

Thoughts

I think the game can be made to work, but some spells feel underpowered or overpowered. Magic Mirror is too easy to cast (maybe a solution is to require both hands to cast it), for example. Clairvoyance seems too weak for such a long sequence. I like how it's easy to cast resist heat and then a fire elemental. Kind of makes sense (the same with the ice elemental and resist cold.

Another thought is that sequences should be limited to a number of cards. Cards older are discarded for future use. This way cards are reused quicker and players can have a bigger variety of cards. I was thinking of maybe re-shuffling the deck each time cards are discarded but it may be too much…

Also, the Excuse can be used as a special card, like an End of the Round. When drawn players discard their spell sequences and start over. I'm not too sure about this…

The Hit is supposed to be a physical hit (like a spell that throws a rock, for example) and the shield only stops physical hits (not fire balls or ice bolts). Maybe if the drain spell was considered a physical hit (the spell actually throws something at the wizard that will drain his life) the shield could stop it. This way the spell is more powerful than both the fire and ice bolts but also easier to stop…

Other spells that could be added are: Amnesia - The caster turns face down a number of cards from the other player's played cards (as many as energy cards played). Confusion - The caster selects randomly a card from the other player's hand to be played this turn. Charm - The caster plays a card from their hand into the opponent's play area.

I guess, by combining different energy suits, more complex effects could be created but I don't know if that would be the right way to go… I want to keep it simple.

Possible Examples:

• Fire + Water + Wyrm = Lighting Bolt
• Fire + Leaves + Knot= Summon F. Elemental
• Waves + Leaves + Knot = Summon Ice Elemental

etc…