Arena based fantasy game...full turn layout advice would be awesome!

[armchairathletegaming]

First off hello!!

So the game is based in theory on a 2v2 arena match in the World of Warcraft MMO.  If you have ever played it this will all seem very familiar.  The basic concept of the game was to bring the Arena from WoW into a card game but not leave yourself limited to the WoW fantasy realm.

A little about the game.

Game is a 2 player game in which each player chooses 2 (could also be played 1v1 or 3v3 ect) characters of their choice to build his "Arena" team.

The game will consist of various classes...Warrior, Mage, Paladin, Rogue ect ect.  I dont want to limit the game to only the classes of WoW but would also like to introduce classes from the dungeons and dragons realm as well...Bards, Theives ect.  I would also like to bring in special fighters from accross all realms...gaming to real life...imagine a 2v2 match of say...Kratos and Sub Zero fighting Genghis Kan and Chuck Liddell...the options are limitless honestly.

Each class will consist of X number of "special ability cards".  These cards will have effects ranging from damage to damage reduction to removing a character from combat ect.

There will be X number of "special ability cards that can be played by any class".  These will be mainly ranging from damage to damage reduction as I would like character selection to play a role in crowd controling of other characters....polymorph, hammer of justice, kidney shot, ect (WoW CC spells)

I've been an avid Magic the Gathering player for years and simply loathe the mana resource style.  So I decided to go with a resource style that isn't dependant upon your draw.  It instead limits how many cards you can play. 

Below will be a turn outline..somewhat roughly but it should get the general picture across.

ARENA
Both players determine who goes first by a random means.
Both players choose their characters and place them face down in the middle of the Arena.
Both players reveal their characters at the same time unless a character has stealth active (if a character is stealth it cannot be targeted by the opposing player until it plays a special or activates a character ability).
The player who is going first searches his deck for any weapons cards and attaches them to his characters.  The player who is going second now searches his deck for any weapons cards and attaches them to his character.

Each player draws 7 cards.
Turn 1 begins with the player who won the roll (Player A)
Player A will enter the Ready Step and ?Ready? (untap) his side of the board.
Player A will skip drawing a card during the Draw Step since he is playing first.
Player A will enter the Main Step.  He can play any non-combat cards and/or swap weapons.
Player A will enter the Duel Step.  During this time He will choose one or both of his characters and one or both of the opposing characters and ?Duel? (attack that character).












****Card Example****
Card:  Kickass ? Warrior
Melee Attack - +3 Physical Damage
Range Attack ? 0
Spell Attack - 0
Defense ? 2 Armor
Endurance ? 8
Hit Points ? 18
*some sort of attack icon*Overpower: Exhaust Kickass and spend 5 Endurance: Melee Attack target character for 2 Physical damage.
*some sort of defend icon*Shield Block: Exhaust Kickass and spend 5 Endurance: Prevent the next 2 Physical damage (This may only be used if a shield is equipped)

Card: Annoying ? Mage
Melee Attack -  0
Range Attack ? 0
Spell Attack - +4 Spell Damage
Defense ? 0 Armor
Endurance ? 6
Hit Points ? 14
*some sort of attack icon*Ice Lance: Exhaust Annoying and spend 4 Endurance: Attack target character for 2 Spell damage.
*some sort of defend icon*Frost Armor: Exhaust Annoying and spend 4 Endurance: Prevent 3 damage from the next Physical attack or 2 damage from the next Spell attack.









***Combat Example***
Player A begins the Duel.
Player A chooses Kickass and targets Annoying.  (think of the duel step as one long ?stack? where the attacking player has priority)
Player A chooses to exhaust (when a character is ?exhausted?  the character cannot play anymore *Specials*or abilities [think instant]) Kickass and use the Overpower ability attacking Annoying for 5 ( 2 from base attack 3 from bonus to physical attack).
Priority is now passed to Player B who may now choose to either let Overpower resolve (drawing a black on alternative name) or use an ability or special of his own.  **Defending characters can ONLY play defending abilities or specials while defending during a duel**
Player B chooses to play a Special from his hand.  Player B plays ?Frost Nova: Spend 4 Endurance: Prevent all  Melee damage from target character until end of duel? ***Notice this Special does NOT Exhaust the mage allowing him to attack later***
Player A now has priority but passes to allow Frost Nova to resolve.  Frost Nova resolves and prevents all melee damage done by Kickass for the remainder of duel.
Player B now has priority but passes to allow Overpower to resolve.  Overpower resolves but does no damage due to Frost Nova.
Player A now has priority.  Player A passes priority.  Player B now has priority. Player B passes priority.
Once both players pass priority during the first attack step of the duel and the stack *wtb new name for this* is empty, the first attack step will end and the second will begin with Player B being on the offensive this time.



***Player A has spent 5 Endurance and Player B has spent 4 Endurance so far?..I think the Specials should remain in the ?Arena? until the Duel Step is over and then moved to the discard pile***

Player B has priority.  Player B does not have enough Endurance to use a Character Ability, so player B can either pass priority or play a Special from hand.  Player B plays ?Ice Lance: Spend 2 Endurance: Deal 2 Spell damage to target enemy character.? 
Player B passes priority. 
Player A has ?Spell Reflect: Spend 2 Endurance: The next Spell damage you would receive is reflected back to its original caster until end of duel.? but since Player A is ?Exhausted? Player A cannot play this Special from hand. 
Player A passes priority
?Ice Lance? resolves and Kickass takes 6 spell damage (2 from ice lance plus 4 from the spell damage bonus)***Armor does not mitigate spell damage only physical damage.
Kickass? Hit Points are reduced to 12
Player B has priority but since Annoying has no more endurance Player B passes priority.
Player A passes priority.
Duel Step Ends.

Player A will enter the second Main Step.  He can play any non-combat cards and/or swap weapons.
Player A will enter Discard Step ***if you have more than 7 cards you discard down to 7 cards?also if you did not play a Special or Character Ability during the Duel Step you discard 3 cards (this is in place to keep both players from sitting there staring at each other and passing until one of them gets a nuts hand and decides to play it)***
Turn Ends


Feel free to critique away...Thanks!

[armchairathletegaming]

First Template Design....I know I need to customize a font for some things like..."Exhaust = Square box with a X in it"..."Spend X Endurance = Square Box with a # in it ect ect"

Feedback would be wonderful.

[Trevor]

Convert things down to a smaller size, like 210 pixels in width, and I think you will see the font size ratio is not clear. A common card template designing error is to design card templates at a huge size, and then things don't look right when they are properly scaled down.

The size of your card title font is not sustainable. It works with that specific card, but if you have a large card name, it wouldn't. I'd also suggest the Title + subtitle method.

I'd advise against using texture patterns for actual text (such as the title). These are simply not discernible  at actual card size, and the only effect they have is make things less clear and crisp.

The card image looks stretched.

I think the warrior label on the left bottom could use a little more definition. Maybe put it in a box, or a contrasting stroke outline.

The colors of the stats on the top right seem a bit off. Maybe use a symbol instead of a color? Those colors might clash with some card images, or card templates. Take a look at how decipher's lotr cards use symbols. Also, the stats aren't that clear. There isn't much contrast as you have them now. You have a white shadow for a white text, which doesn't look that well defined at actual card sizes.

I don't think the color of the text background looks good. The red can clash with a lot of card art or templates. I suggest using a simple background, and be able to omit this card text area when you have a vanilla card.

With all that said, I think the overall design looks pretty good.