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by David S. Wilson Zenhelm An Alternative Game Mixing M:tG with Roleplaying Welcome to Zenhelm, a world where the land produces 0 mana and yet, magic duels are the Number 1 form of entertainment featured at the big 5 academia lodges of magic! The first thing you must know about Zenhelm is that over 800 million Quantum Elves rule 70% of the living world. Men, Mermen, Centaurs, Minotaurs and their other allies followed "Yah", the elder god of light and law into battle against the trolls, orcs, goblins and their allies who followed "Nay" the elder god of darkness and chaos. Ten thousand years later the few survivors of the great war have actually rebuilt both sides to almost a million strong and are once again butting heads, each trying to increase their 15% of the world. And yes, "Yah" and "Nay" are still locked onto each other in a battle that is now a little over 10,000 years old. Quantum Elves who follow Zen, the elder god of color and harmony continue to expand their hold on Zenhelm as they wonder when the other races will realize neither side will ever win. Quantum Elves are similar to Quirion Elves in that they have the ability to produce their own mana of any color. But some quantum elves can produce it in greater quantities then 1 per turn. It is this ability that has allowed the development of magic on zenhelm. Quantum Elves look like Humans with pointed ears, eyes twice the size of Humans, and eye and hair colors that always match. Hair/eye colors are red, blue, green or yellow. Skin color is white, black, or various shades of gray. According to history the white elves and black elves were once considered different races called high elves and wild elves. Every Quantum Elf is a born magic user. At age 16 they join a guild as an apprentice and are taught to use the magic power that is within them. For example, if an elf joined the woodworkers guild to become a carpenter or barrelmaker he would be taught how to use his power to shape wood or repair wood as these are the skills that will allow him to produce the finest products on zenhelm. But some elves are blessed by Zen with a special ability. These elves can generate mana at an accelerated rate and are sought out by the five academia lodges. Each lodge tries their best to recruit these blessed elves for training in the arts of magic. These special elfs then may earn wondrous titles like spell-caster, magician, sorcerer, wizard, mage, or even grand artificer depending on how well they do in their studies and the magic duels associated with the lodges.       The 5 lodges are: Plains lodge - colors are white & purple - allies are forest & island Island lodge - colors are blue & gold - allies are plains and swamp Swamp lodge - colors are black & gray - allies are island & mountain Mountain lodge - colors are red and silver - allies are swamp & forest Forest lodge - colors are green & brown - allies are mountain & plains      What lodge a quantum elf is trained at controls what magic spells will be available during their training. Elves are very loyal to their lodge and always dress in their lodge colors and wear gem earrings of the proper color and number to indicate their level of advancement in the world of magic. Now it took a while but I think we are at the point where we can now begin to discuss the game... Changes for a duel in zenhelm are: No lands or cards that effect land are used. No cards that force an opponent to draw any cards are used. Use of types of cards is restricted by character level. A character may draw as many cards as they wish during their turn. A character reduced to 0 life points is unconscious not dead. -1 is dead. Someone is grand artificer of zenhelm and keeps history of every duel. Cards a character can play depends on their level and spell book. Every character requires a character sheet / spell book. Winning by killing an opponent earns 1 experience point. A win by knocking an opponent unconscious earns 2 experience points. Everyone starts at level 1 with an iq rating of 7 and a health rating of 20. Only Type 2 legal cards may be used. Every 10 experience points advances a character to the next level. Duels start with each character drawing 3 cards. ( leaving 4 mana available ) First character to grand artificer is the overall game winner. Now lets look at what should be on a character sheet. On the front... 1. The players name ( your name ). 2. The character's name. You name characters not decks. 3. Lodge (school) name. - never wear anything but your school colors to a duel. 4. You character's description - physical description & dress. 5. Experience points - starts at 0. iq - starts at 7. health - starts at 20. 6. A running history of those characters you defeated. on the back... 1. A list of learned or won spells by color - it is your spell book! Now lets look at the levels and what they mean. Level 1 - Spell caster You have completed 1 year of school. You were taught 30 spells in the primary color of your school. Spells can only be summons or sorcery spells. You have been invited to participate in opening duels. This means you can only duel other 1st level characters of your own school. Try to knock them unconscious, not to kill them. If you do kill them they will be immediately regenerated by local school officials there for that purpose but the duel is over. You won! Record it! Add the experience. You wear 1 earring. Level 2 - Magician You now have an iq of 8 and health of 21. you have been taught to cast local enchantment spells. You have learned 30 new spells, 20 in one allied color and 10 new spells in your primary color. You can now attend duels at the allied lodge whose spells you chose as your secondary field of magical arts. You may challenge their 2nd level characters who have your primary color as their secondary color. Add a second earring to the same ear. Level 3 - Sorcerer You now have an iq of 9 and health of 22. you have been taught to cast instant spells. You learn 30 new spells, 10 in each of your allied colors. You now the the right to attend duels at either of your allied lodges and challenge any of their sorcerers. Third earring. Level 4 - Wizard You are taught to cast interrupts. You are given any 1 artifact of your choice by a school graduate who has reached grand artificer and has noticed your advance. You may now attend any duel at any lodge. If you defeat a wizard from a school you are not allied with you may look at their spell book and take one of their spells. Remove it from their spell list and add it to yours. Your iq is 10, your health is 23. You are taught 30 new spells, 10 in each of your colors. Fourth earring. Level 5 - Mage Your iq is 11 your health is 24. You can duel anyone at any school. Take one spell from any mage you defeat. You are awarded 3 different artifacts from 3 different grand artificers - one from each of the schools that are proud to have had a part in your training. You were taught to cast world enchantments and 10 spells in each of your 3 allied colors. 5th earring. Level 6 - Grand artificer You have learned to make artifacts and can cast as many as you want to. You have won the game. Artificers do not fight in school duels. If artificers fight they fight to the death. No audience. If an artificer earns 10 experience points he becomes a planeswalker and leaves zenhelm. Iq 12, health 25. That's it ... it's a long game for a group of people. What's that? You missed where I told how to cast spells without land? Okay, I suppose I'll fill in that detail too. Subtract the number of cards in your hand from your iq. That's how many mana you can generate. Iq is the stat controlling both how many spells you have in memory and how many mana you can generate, and it is in a constant state of flux. As fast as you cast a spell some of your iq has been freed up and you can generate more mana than before. This means no one is ever totally out of mana. But also remember each time you draw a card your ability to generate mana is reduced by one. You might overdraw and be in a short mana lock until you can discard enough spells to get back up to the mana level you need to cast one of your spells. This game was designed to mix a taste of roleplaying with card playing. You can add optional rules like - challenges and acceptances must be roleplayed verbally to get a duel started. Spells must be spoken out loud, etc etc.       Thank You - Dave WIlson [ Back to April 1997 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast