Humans (and the lack thereof) in Magic
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Bloomburrow will be just the second plane without human-type creatures in Magic. We discuss the history of Humans, and what we might expect their absence to mean to worldbuilding of the new set. We also get really off on a Mass Effect tangent, if you're into that sort of thing.
- Hry
I am beyond excited for Bloomburrow and exist, within my mind, in a world where the "Calamity Beasts" of the set is actually smog and pollution from the Humans we don't see in the set. Ferngully style,
My favourite Era of magic is Mirrodin/Kamigawa/Time Spiral/Ravnica/Lorwyn/Alara/Zendikar/Innistrad. Because it was the longest stretch where each set felt like it's own mostly self contained story. Once we hit Scars of Mirrodin, it felt like even the stand alone sets had to be tied to the bigger sets (or are years apart).
Before that I was so tired of the Urza/Phyrexia stuff and after it I was bored of Nicol Bolas/Gatewatch/Eldrazi/Phyrexia. I hope this is another era of mostly stand alone sets that can set the stage for the next era of long form story telling.
I think I'd prefer that as well, but I'm not too hopeful. With the first two episodes of Bloomburrow story out, we are mostly focused on characters and issues of that plane, but we've got our first visit from an outsider (Ral) already...and they've outlined how this is the start of the DragonStorm arc, which is a part of a larger 3-part mega-arc. As long as the focus stays primarily on the stories WITHIN the planes, I think I'm happiest...it's when focus is on a bunch of established planeswalkers bouncing between missions that the story feels the worst to me...the most "designed by committee", like a heavy-handed comic book crossover.
@@ManaCritics Huh. That dragonstorm arc sounds like it could be neat. If it actually wraps up for the most part by the end of the 3rd set. That's basically them going back to the old style of 3 sets forming a block.
If they break the story into 3 arc chunks, I'd be really happy for a few years. Then they can do the bigger arc for a few years again.
I'm still confused as to why they went the extra mile to say "non-human" for the Mutate ability
I'd guess that primarily a flavor thing for Ikoria, to separate mechanics into "Humans" vs "Monsters" abilities? It definitely makes it obnoxiously tricky to use...I've totally forgotten about it (and been called on it when trying to mutate onto an Doomed Necromancer or Eternal Witness) when playing Nethroi in EDH.
The next time mutate comes up, they'd better errata the past cards into saying "Mutate a non-Human" or something, so we CAN mutate Humans - or be otherwise selective - with future design.
Odd, with Elder Scrolls I exclusively choose Imperials and very likely to pick human even if a game provides non human options. I am that guy that sees all of the vast options that a fantasy role play game has and picks human fighter/warrior/knight/etc.
In tabletop RPGs, I will absolutely go for a straightforward martial class like Fighter, but that's a different topic. When you say Imperials in Elder Scrolls, is it that you're dedicated to the Empire as a faction, or does it just line up with your perk preferences and such?
@ManaCritics little of both, the charisma buff is nice especially when not playing a charisma character and Oblivion was my first ES game.
Its funny to hear about people who most often play fantasy races in RPGs. I almost never play anything OTHER than humans lol
Yeah, I find myself always playing characters who are physically unlike me, and trying (but abjectly failing) to play them with different philosophies/worldviews than my own.
Do you have an easily stated reason WHY you prefer to play humans, or is it just a vibe?
@@ManaCritics That makes sense! Yeah if you wanted to go for something completely different, lizards are a good start.
I play humans for a couple reasons. One, I feel like every character I play is "Me" to some degree, they've all got little touches of what I'm about.
And two, I just think there's something fun about being the "normal" one. Elves and dwarves make sense in a fantasy setting, and they play by those rules. You kinda expect that an elf can shoot ice out of their hands, or at least its not surprising, but when a human can do it, that's a superhero. Whatever I do, it feels a bit more impressive cause its a theoretically normal person doing it.
And also as a side-bonus, most other people want to play the weird and out-there races. You don't play a tiefling because you wanna blend in with a crowd, you wanna stand out. Having a regular person to compare to makes me feel more normal and makes them feel more unique.
@@kaleidoslug7777 That's a fantastic answer. I mean, "because I want to" is all anyone needs, but I really appreciate that you've considered it at this level.
@@ManaCritics Thank you!
I didn't even think about Lorywn as having no humans, maybe cause we got human planeswalkers. Lorywn did feel like a bit of a fresh air though with it being so original, and new creature types and a focus on tribal synergies.
Yeah, I know Rosewater describes it as a commercial failure, and I honestly don't remember how I felt about it when it was new, but NOW I remember it as being incredibly flavorful and cool. I want to go back, but I want to see both aspects, and i don't know how that would/will work.
@@ManaCritics Well, Lorywn was when I came back to magic after having quit for years and had to start from scratch again, so it's kinda nostalgic for me for that sense. Also I really liked the merfolk of the block, and my 'lorywn era" merfolk deck/s is still probably my favorite deck. *I got two version of it, one is pure blue to be more aggro in 1 vs 1, and a blue white for multiplayer.
Hell old Jace Beleren is still my favourite planeswalker. The original one.