Cards will vary slightly in what they display depending on the type and tags the card has, however, there will be some similarities in the information displayed in all cards such as the details panel at the top. It displays:
- Card Name
- Card Type and Subtypes
- Alignment
- Power Level
Legends have Race, Archetype, Alignment, and Faction(Optional) displayed in their details section at the top of the card. At the bottom of the card, it displays the following information
- Defenses: Guard Toughness and Resolve
- Attributes: All legends may have up to 9 attributes on their card
- Feats: All feats listed
- Auto-Attack Attribute: which attribute the auto attack uses and which damage type it is for that attribute
- Health: The Legends Max HP
The type section of the Action cards details panel displays the type and tags for the action, which define how it can be played. At the bottom of action cards, it should have room for the following information
- What the action targets
- Attributes it can be cast with (and what it targets or its challenge rating)
- Other requirements for the action
- Card effects including banes and boons invoked or any other limitations, penalties, or bonuses the action receives not directly pulled from Open Legends.
In the type section of the Items Cards Details panel, it displays the type of item it is which is limited to Equipment, Mount, Terrain, Prop, or Consumable. Which defines how the item interacts with the game and where it is placed. At the bottom of the item card, it should display the following information:
- The requirements to “Use” the item
- What Properties the item has
- A Card Effect area for any passives the Item grants
- Any actions the Item provides
- In the case of Consumables it should have a bottom section matching the action from consuming the item.
Unlike most games, there is not much of a rarity system in the game however to contribute to the spirit of traditional TCGs there are 2 levels of Cosmetics, A “Foil” and a “Holo”/”animated” foil. Foils will have special effects and bordering on the card, Animated Foils will play an animation when brought into focus. Whenever you unlock a card from a pack, you have a 1:35 chance of it being a “Foil” and a 1:50 chance of it being a “Holo Foil”. Legends are obtained through starter kits rather than being pulled in packs and have cosmetics that can be purchased in the in-game store and other cosmetics that can be earned through challenges.
Card abilities vary greatly depending on the type of card it is as well as the different traits the card has. Bold Words can be looked up in the Card Index which explains every short hand for card effects in the game including Banes, Boons, and Feats. Card abilities come in two forms, passive such as attribute increases, or active where they provide or are some kind of action a legend may perform. Passive abilities are always in effect while active abilities will include some predefined action.
With such a variety of card types balancing will be tricky and will be addressed in stages. Stage one is in Design where cards will be designed around the numeric balancing of mechanics in the Open Legend rule book where things of equal power level should be balanced for or around each other. A power level 6 Legend should be balanced against two legends of power level 3 or 6 legends of power level 1. The next stage of balancing is taking any other effects or limitations not described in the Core rules of Open Legend, and assigning them power level. The final step is to release cards in a pre-balanced phase where they are available for trial in quickplay but not competitive formats. This allows one final opportunity to balance cards with the community input in mind. Ideally, future cards will be made with the balance of older cards in mind; I want to touch cards as little as possible in patches after they reach the competitive scene.