TwistedSpoon Studio

    Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a world of beastfolk, we're continuing Integration design with a new set skeleton-- this time with uncommons! Because the world of Urbestia has changed so much during this stage, this set skeleton is going to look very different from the last one that was shared.     You can find the new set skeleton here . The rest of this article will be explaining the changes that have taken place, but stick around until the end for an important announcement.   Out with the Old     We've already talked Crafting to death, but it bears repeating here. The Equipment-token mechanic has been removed from the set skeleton, but a minor equipment-matters theme has remained. There are common Equipment in white, red, and colorless, with Equipment-matters support at uncommon. This archetype is pretty slim, with the hope that players will mostly i...

     Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on  Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a world of beast folk, we're revisiting our draft archetypes. Third times' the charm! White/Blue     This color pair isn't changing much. Blockers on the ground, attackers in the air-- it's a classic. The seasoning that gives it that little extra  oomph  this time around is the artifact theme. While blue had commerce before ( "whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, [effect]" ), now white has it too, allowing for a broader range of effects. We also have the flicker tech from earlier versions of FUR, which can now be used to repeat commerce triggers. Blue/Black     Continuing our "classic archetypes with an artifact theme" trend, blue/black is, of course, control. This time around, the twist is Treasure-- while every color has at least one in this set, black has more than the rest. That means that...

      Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a world of beastfolk, we're kicking of the Integration stage by introducing two new mechanics. We're going to discuss what left and why, and then we'll talk about Vicious and Commerce. Funeral for a Friend     First up, we have to say goodbye to a mechanic. Suit Up, originally Craft, was a keyword action that allowed the player to create one of two equipment tokens. One granted +1/+1, the other +0/+2, and both had equip 2. The idea was that the tokens would have different arts, allowing you to customize your creatures aesthetically and mechanically.      There are three problems with Suit Up. First, the tracking can be a pain-- when you have the tokens, it's fine, but if you don't, you're trying to remember which penny is a Claw and which is a Pelt. On online clients, it can be hard to tell at a glance which is which when they'r...

      Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a world of beast folk, it's finally time to start the Integration Stage of design. What is Integration?     The Integration Stage is where we take the vision that we spent the last four months creating, and we figure out how to actually make it happen. That means playtesting, playtesting, and playtesting some more. We're going to stress test the set, find the gaps in our mechanics, and iron out the wrinkles.     We're also going to integrate the story elements more heavily. This means creating cards to represent story moments, adding flavor text to existing designs, and reflavoring cards to fit better with the beats we want to hit. We're also going to craft the uncommons and rares during this stage, so those designs will have the story built-in from the start. About the Story...     Before we do that, I want to address feedb...

    Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on Festival of Urbestia, the custom Magic set about a world of beast folk, our story-boarding is coming to an end. Or is this only the beginning? The Circle of Life     In the first article of this creative push, we hinted at a darker secret behind the world of Urbestia-- a mystery for our heroes to unravel. That secret (surprise!) is a fourth Eldrazi titan. But why is there a four-dimensional horror from beyond the stars at our cheery little Festival?     I have a fan-theory about the Eldrazi. Back in Battle for Zendikar block, Ugin warned the Gatewatch against destroying the titans Ulamog and Kozilek. His reasoning was that they are colorless just like he is-- well, okay, maybe not. He was afraid that their deaths would somehow disrupt whatever meta-planar ecosystem begot the titans in the first place.     So my theory is this-- the Eldrazi don't just eat  planes, they recycle...

      Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! Festival of Urbestia, the custom Magic set about a world of beast folk, is currently  going through playtesting .  While that's going on, we're continuing our series with a creative push.       Last week we covered the overarching plot-- something fell to Urbestia long ago that accelerated the evolution of beasts; a Festival is held every year to celebrate that event, and the Story Circle is here to learn more. There's mystery, ancient secrets, and an eldritch force lurking just beyond sight.     But today, we're looking at the small stuff. We need something grounded and down-to-earth for players to identify with and to set the tone, so that the big plot twist hits that much harder. To that end, the set has a cycle of uncommon Legendary creatures that act as B-plot protagonists.  Meet the Band     Originally, I wanted these characters to represent the Big Five tribes, but ran...

      Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! Last week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set dedicated to anthropomorphic beast folk, we finished Vision Design with the Vision Handoff document . While we take the time to playtest the set , we're going to step back from design and put on our Creative hat. A while back, I promised that we would get into the story once we hit the Integration stage. Well, here we are!     Magic's stories tend to revolve around planeswalkers. And if we're talking about planeswalkers in a world of beast folk, then of course it's got to be the lion man himself: Ajani Goldmane.     Of course, he can't be the only one up on the stage, right? Thankfully, he's got some friends who might be willing to come with him to the Festival-- The Story Circle!  Okay, maybe Tamiyo's book club hasn't gotten as much press as certain other planeswalker team-ups, but that makes this casual group of story-swapping travel...

    Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! This week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a world of beast-folk, we're hitting a pretty big milestone: The end of Vision Design! Vision Design on FUR started September 25th; Wizards of the coast gets four months for this stage, and this is the limitation I've been working under as well. With that being said, it's finally that time! The flavor text says it all. The Handoff     What does that mean for the set, for the blog, and for you?     For starters, it means that you finally get to see the Vision Design Handoff Document ! This doc contains a condensed version of all of the design we've done so far . The tribes, mechanics, set structure, archetypes-- it's all there. That even includes a few things that I haven't talked about here yet, like uncommon and rare cycles and a fourth (minor) mechanic. I highly recommend reading it if you're interested in creating your own custom set and ...

      Welcome to TwistedSpoon Studio! Last week in our series on Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a beast-folk festival, we established a new direction for the set. This week, we're going to explore evocative tropes to make our creatures feel like the animals that they're based on. We're also going to dig into festival/convention tropes, though they're going to take a back seat this time around. Vizier of the Menagerie by Victor Adame     Before we start, keep in mind that every set needs to do something new to stand out. One way to do that is with structure-- look at Ravnica, with its ten-color-pair factions, or Alara with its triad factions; Scars of Mirrodin block plays with asymmetrical factions, with Mirrodin Besieged split 50/50 between the Mirrans and Phyrexians. One of the most common structural features is the association between creature types and colors-- elves are green, goblins are red, merfolk are blue, so on and so forth. Som...

       Welcome to TwistedSpoon Studio! With a new year comes a new approach to Festival of Urbestia , the custom Magic set about a diverse city of beast folk. We're going to revisit the mechanics and world with fresh eyes.     Let's start with the set's Vision: Make Urbestia a world of beast folk Put diversity front and center Let players choose how to express themselves Capture key elements of community, art, and self-expression     The world is full of beast folk, but they don't really feel  like beast folk. They feel like every other creature in Magic, but with a different type line. To address that, we're going to use flavorful tropes and associations to make them feel like the animals that they're supposed to be. Wolves howl at the moon. Dogs like to dig holes. Cats always land on their feet. Whereas the previous approach was top-down festival with beast folk sprinkled in, this attempt will be more top-down animals with festival tropes s...

      Welcome (back) to TwistedSpoon Studio! The last couple of weeks have been spent going over common designs and firming up creative details for Festival or Urbestia . This week, we're throwing all that out the window.       Okay, not all  of it. But much like last time, this card file doesn't feel like a furry world. It has furry things, it has diversity, it has flavor, but it's just not hitting that note that we're looking for. What are we looking for, anyway?     The point of Vision design is to create a bullseye to direct your efforts for the rest of design. Part of following my design process means that you're also going to follow my mistakes, so here it is: I messed up. I got excited to design and I jumped the gun. That's okay-- there's no better way to learn why things work a certain way, than to do it differently and watch it explode.     Today, we're going to learn from those mistakes and un -explode some things. Fi...

     Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! Last week in our series on Festival of Urbestia, the custom Magic set about a world of beast folk , we discussed the relations between the tribes and saw the map of Urbestia for the first time. This week we're back on the design side with more card-by-card designs! (If you missed it in the last Card-by-Card article, the current card file can be found here. ) CW14 - Vivid Bonds {2}{W} Enchantment - Aura Enchant creature  Enchanted creature can't attack or block.   Vivid -- When [Cardname] enters the battlefield, if three or more colors of mana were spent to cast it, create a 1/1 white Rabbit Folk creature token.       CW14 is the white entry to the common Vivid cycle. The intention for the cycle was for each card to have a different card type. White seemed like the best color to do an enchantment, but it turned out to be a bit tricky. Because of the artifacts-matter theme, the common positive aura that each...

      Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studios! Last week in our series on Festival of Urbestia, the custom Magic set celebrating the cultures of beast folk , we released the new card file and covered some card-by-card designs. This week, we're going to focus on the creative side by looking at the tribes and their connections to one another. By the end of this, we'll have a map of the setting!     Festival of Urbestia takes place on the eponymous plane of Urbestia, a world of humanoid animals that are as diverse and colorful as nature itself. We have ten major tribes: Wolf, Fox, Dog, Cat, Scale, Bird, Bear, Elk, Sea, and Wall (small animal) Folk. We established in the last  worldbuilding article  that the story takes place on an island split into five territories (the tundra, desert, forest, grassland, and coast) surrounding a central city. Let's talk about each biome, the folk that live there, and their relationships with each other and the other tribes. ...