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Every once in a while you need something different. A lot of people have spent a lot of time making up alternatives to playing regular Magic. My group of friends is no different. We tried several different ways to play
with minor adjustments or changes to the rules. Most were okay, but we only played them a few times, and then left it behind. Then we hit paydirt. I started it after rereading Larry Niven's novel "The Magic Goes Away" for the third time. It was so different from all the other high magic level fantasy books being published nowadays. And to be honest, it was easy to adapt the Magic rules to include the philosophies behind Larry’s fading magic world. Both Dominia and Larry’s world are based on the concept that land produces something called mana, which is used by mages to power spell casting. However, in Larry’s world, the land does not regenerate its mana. Once you used up the mana, you have to move and find new land that still has its mana resources available. This was an easy adaption to apply. All Magic cards are played the same except for the land. When you tap the land it stays tapped. It does not reset during upkeep. If you draw further mana from the land, you tap it a second time. This means it is tapped from 1/4 turn to 1/2 half turn (upside-down). If you tap the land again it is turned farther to the 3/4 position. And if you tap the land a fourth time it is turned face down on the table. It is still land you control but is now compeletly out of mana. Thus, you can only use each land four times. That’s the one and only rule we used for the original CCG version of The Magic Goes Away. But after a little play we did make two further changes that made the game much more fun then we had expected. First we changed the tap rule to allow you to tap any land for 1 - 4 points of magic. It’s your land ...you decide how fast to use up the mana, just make sure how you tap it is correctly shown by the direction you leave the land facing. This is the rule change that made the game great! Instead of only that one mana, every player starts with 4 mana from that land, available on their very first turn. This means instant major duel time. But if you use it all up too fast...it’s easy to sputter out of mana and find yourself helpless. Finally, we banned some cards. No creatures or artifacts can be used to generate mana. On Larry’s world only land has mana properties. We also banned cards that let you tap or drain your opponets mana. Only the person who controls the land can get the mana. Finally, we banned all non basic lands, with the exception of dual lands. And there you have it.. all the rules required for one of the fastest paced alternatic Magic game. Give it a try.
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