Are you someone drawn to games where things grow and matter over time? Where you start with a difficult challenge and slowly build up over time to higher and higher levels?

Well that’s where my Magic: Role-Playing Game comes in. ¹ I created a variant for Magic where you are an actual, proper Planeswalker, and then you have to take a certain set of stats, skills and more at level 1. And then as you play you level up, and you can develop further.

Starting out it’s going to be hard to balance all of the things you have to. But the reward over time of playing and leveled is powerful and helps to build a real mechanical connection to the story of Magic.

You are a Planewalker! Ignite your spark!

And the rules we’ll be discussing today are designed to create the tools for you to really express that with your character and deck. Take Jace. When he was first on the plane of Vryn, he was pretty week. But slowly, over time, he gained skills, knowledge, and experience he needed to grow and develop.

Imagine that you have just ignited your spark and traveled. And now you have your first slate of weapons ready to go. Your first deck. What sort of Planeswalker are you? Are you drawn to the artificial like Tezzeret or Daretti? Are you drawn to a certain tribe or race of creatures, like Nissa with Elves? Are you the sort that wades into battle, like Gideon? Are you the sort that builds up and protects like Ajani? Are you the sort that animates the dead and harnesses the dark arts of necromancy like Liliana? Who are you? What sort of Planeswalker do you want to be?

And that’s the goal with the game. Build yourself, and your own interests. Balance the four different stats. Choose skills and traits that work with your character. Embrace the journey.

Are you ready?

Here we go!

Beginning

To begin, you will just need an idea. Who are you? What do you want to be? And most importantly . . . 

What’s your name? Your Title? Most legendary creatures and Planeswalkers have titles, right? What’s yours?

Jabril, Denizen of Darkness? Stacy, Scholar of Runes? Habbeth the Feared? Kaine, Slayer of Worlds? Morgana, Protector of the Hearth? Abba, Cleric of Heliod? Magson, OtarianArtificer? Monica the Insalubrious? The Survivor? The Destroyer? The Witness? The Hawk-Eyed?

So many options! So who are you?

Glossary of Key Terms

Access — Just like a Planeswalker may start out life knowing only a few spells, the Magic RPG requires Access before you can play a card. In a normal Magic format, you have Access to all of the cards that are legal in that format, and the rules of that format determine which cards you can play. But in The Magic RPG, anything legal in Legacy is legal here. But you have to have purchased Access to the card in order to play it, and you’ll have to purchase Access later to cards with different avenues.

Stats, Skills and Traits — A Stat is one of your four core values, and measures things like your Access, your starting life total, how many cards you can have in your deck, and more. However, you can also get Skills and Traits. Now a Skill is something that, when you have learned, you can grow and develop over time, like playing a piano. So as you grow and develop as a Planeswalker, you may also improve a Skill you already have to be a lot better. You can also purchase a Trait, which as the name states, is a one-time purchase that gives you an ability immediately, but cannot be improved over time. Like being ambidextrous. Note that unless they say otherwise in the description, these various abilities only work for you and your stuff.

Begin on the Battlefield — A few Skills or Traits will let you actually begin the game with a certain card already out on the battlefield. That card does not count for your deck limit, so if you normally have to have 60 cards in your deck, then the card in play does not count for that 60. But it does count for your number of each card you can have total in your deck. So, if you can only have 2 of a given card in your deck, and you begin with 1 in play, then you cannot have more than 1 more in the deck.

Naturally Has — Many Skills and Traits will mention a card that “Naturally Has” a particular feature. This means that the card has, printed on it, that feature, not being affected by other Skills, Traits, cards on the battlefield, or anything else. So a card that Naturally Has Unearth is not one affected by Sedris, the Traitor King, but instead something like Fatestitcher that has it printed on the card.

Draw From — A few Skills or Traits may grant you to ability to replace a draw with something else, other than the traditional draw. This will replace a draw that you were already going to take, such as when you tap an Archivist or draw on your draw step. For example, the Skill Necromancer lets you grab a card from your graveyard, instead of your library. In terms of rules, this replaces the draw completely, not unlike Words of War, that replaces your draw with something else, and therefore does not counts as a draw in terms of cards that card about drawing. Details of this draw replacement can be found in the ability description.

Actions — A number of Skills are known as Actions. For each point you invest in that skill, you may, once per game, take a certain Action. These Actions have a few things in common. First, I’d recommend using a 6 sixed die to reflect how any you have, and then tick it down each time. They do not use the stack and cannot be responded to in any way, except by another Action. If your foe uses an Action to respond, then regular timing rules re-commence, but just for Actions. If it matters, they are considered coming from a colorless Planeswalker source, and do not target. I have designated Actions in Orange, because, orange is my second favorite color.

Typically, only cards legal in Legacy are allowed in this format. (Check out the Sage Skill though for a built-in exception).

All right, with that caveat out of the way, are you ready to begin? Ignite that Spark!

In order to start making a character you will begin with 15 Mage Points (MP). You can spend those to create your character. You must spend at least 10 of these MP on your starting four Stats, but how you do is up to you! You’ll see that’s it’s hard to balance the stats initially.

The Stats

Mental Fortitude — How strong is your Mental Fortitude? Planeswalking isn’t easy mentally. How fit are your mentally? How capable are you with facing the various challenges that will be coming your way? That’s what Mental Fortitude is all about. For each MP you spend in Mental Fortitude, you begin the game (and your max hand size) with one card in your opening hand. So if you have 5 Mental Fortitude, then you shuffle, draw 5 cards to start the game, and then have a max hand size of 5. Most Mages have a Mental Fortitude of 7 in order to have a flexible number of options both beginning the game and later.

Physical Fortitude — And it’s not just your mind that is tested, but your body as well! There are a number of physical trials that you will face and encounter during your journey. Building up your body and physical acuity is important to deal with the trails, combat, and more than you will face. Therefore, for each MP you spend in Physical Fortitude, you begin the game with 5 life. So if you spend 3 MP here at character creation, you will begin with 15 life.

Recall — Magic demands to be free. It wants to be loosened. A given spell, creature, artifact or resource is hard to mentally control, especially when it has been used once already. At the beginning if the game, you have Recall: 1, without spending any MP, so you can write that down if you like. With this starting level of Recall: 1, you can only have 1 of each non-basic card in your deck. Just one Terror. Just one Llanowar Elves. This even overrides cards like Shadowborn Apostle that say you can have any number. Just one. For each MP you spend in Recall, you have one more copy of each card in your deck. You can never have more than Recall: 4, which would let you have four of each card.

Constraint — One of the hardest principles for an early Planeswalker to understand is how to cut out the noise, how to constrain the things they have learned and know, and their own level of self-discipline and control is vital to their long-term success as a Planeswalker. At the beginning of the game, with a Constraint: 0, you have to have at least 100 cards in your deck. But, for each MP you put in Constraint, your starting deck size is reducing by 10 cards. With Constraint: 2, that’s 80 starting cards for you. Like Recall, you cannot have more than Constraint: 4, which would give you 60 starting cards for your deck.

Now that you have seen the Stats, let’s take a gander at everything else!

Access

A quick side note on Access. You begin the game with Access to all Standard legal commons and uncommons without spending any Mage Points. Below, you will find many different ways to purchase Access to cards via Traits and Skills. Some of these purchases will also give you other things as well, so you can read the descriptions below. Note that when you have Access to a card, you may play any version of it. I have highlighted every Trait or Skill Access in Purple. Because purple is my favorite color.You will note that, generally, you can spend 1 MP for Access to commons for two years of cards, or one block of uncommons, or one set of rares, or one set of mythics with a limitation on them. Check them out below.

Traits

As a reminder, you may only purchase each Trait just one time. We have 39 Traits here for your enjoyment and perusal. Find the best fit for you!

Accomplished Artist — You have developed a level of competence and value in arts of various kind, including martial, and have taught that to your people. Your creatures that naturally have prowess now get +2/+2 instead of +1/+1.

Agriculturalist — Do you like to grow things? Are you a big fan of all things farming? Excellent! You begin the game with a Wall of Wood on the battlefield, and you get Access to it as well.

Alliance with Bandits and Raiders — A few Planeswalkers are more comfortable with seedier company than your typical Knight or Elf. And there is something to be said for building contacts and networks with people who work outside of the law. You gain Access to the 11 Bandit cards. (Charging Bandits, Scarwood Bandits, Cunning Bandit, Godo, Bandit Warlord, Hall of the Bandit Lord, Geier Reach Bandit, Harbor Bandit, Noggle Bandit, Mountain Bandit, and Stinkdrinker Bandit) and the 25 Raiders (Erg Raiders, Wei Night Raiders, Bog Raiders, Mons's Goblin Raiders, Mudbrawler Raiders, Merfolk Raiders, Raiders' Spoils, Rubblebelt Raiders, Cache Raiders, Gathan Raiders, Pheres-Band Raiders, Goblin Raider, Goblin Sky Raider, Mogg Raider, Lavastep Raider, etc, everything but Prossh, Skyraider of Kher and Smokebraider with the “raider” string in it.) ²

Ambush — Are you a sneaky little git who likes to slip in from the sides? Great! Unless your foes have Ambush as well, you always take the first turn. (If they do have Recall, choose turn order normally)

Animate Corpse — Need to get another dose of power from a dead creature? Why not animate it for one final blow? All of the creatures in your graveyard gain unearth equal to their casting cost plus one colorless mana.

Armorer — You are definitely the sort of Planeswalker that is not above mixing it up. Choose a helmet, piece of armor, shield, boots, and gauntlets and gain Access to them. (Gauntlets can be gloves, helmets can be hats, and so forth). That’s a total of 5 cards you can gain Access to with this Trait. Now go out there and smash!

Break Through — Don’t let your big beefy creatures get stopped by some junk your foe tosses out there to stop you! Your creatures with a natural power of five or greater may deal damage to defending player as if they were not blocked.

Channeller — Are you able to channel to power of the lands? Can you fully understand and power out the various land types? Excellent! Whenever you cast a spell or use an ability that cares about the number of basic land types you control, such as Tribal Flames, it will always be 6.

Chivalry — Understanding who you are, how you can help others, and living by a code of ethics is important in your life as a Planeswalker. It will also inspire your troops. Your creatures who naturally have first strike now have double strike.

Chromatic Specs — While many Planeswalkers specialize in certain colors only in order to master them, the best ‘walkers are often those that have developed a level of acuity with all of the colors fully. You forged the glasses to prove it! When you play a creature that is naturally all five colors (including Transguild Courier), then that creature arrives to the battlefield with 5 +1/+1 counters.

Eldritch Specialist — You love learning forgotten, dark, and eldritch knowledge long thought lost. Gain Access to all Timeshifted cards from Time Spiral (with the purple hourglass symbol) and the promo cards.

Familiar — Lots of Planeswalkers have a connection with a Familiar. Choose a creature with a converted casting cost four or less with the word Familiar in its title. You gain Access to it. You may play up to four copies no matter what your Recall stat is. You may begin with one of those copies on the battlefield and then resolve any CIP/ETB abilities such as Raven Familiar’s draw or Owl Familiar’s ability. (As a reminder, that means you cannot have more than 3 more in your deck if you begin with one out).

Filterscope — The Filterscope is another example of a useful artifact you may have found on your journey, and intend to use. At the beginning of each game, choose a color. Your basic lands tap for that color in addition to their other color. ³

For the Good of Many — Many Planeswalkers truly care about helping others, and making sure that no one is left behind. Every instant or sorcery you play has Bolster: 1.

Gambler — Some people love risk. They love the rush that comes with it. And they have a real feel for how to read a room, a table, and a new situation. So do you! If you would clash, add two to the total of the converted casting cost card you reveal. If you would flip a coin, flip two instead and ignore one. If you are playing with Un- cards and are rolling a die, add 1 to your result. When you roll to determine who goes first, add 1 to the die roll. Whenever you lose a clash, coin flip or a die roll, you lose two life. (If you lose the die roll to go first in a multiplayer game, you still just lose two life, not more).

Gird with Alacrity — Some ‘walkers have a real affinity for equipment, and also a keen sense for danger. Understanding when and how to reach for equipment to help and protect you and most importantly, your people. Once per turn, you may equip as an instant.

Good Tidings — Great news has been spread to your allies abroad and they have headed over to your plane to check it out, with a little extra skip in their step. Your Planewalkers arrive with +1 loyalty.

Grit — Don’t let what someone does ruin your day! Did one of your spells get countered by an opponent’s spell? Then use the power of your grit and determination to find another. You may search your library for a copy of that card reveal it and place it into hand before shuffling your library. You may not play it this turn.

Guildmage — After spending some time on Ravnica, you have developed an affection for one of the Guilds. Choose a guild when you purchase this. You gain Access to all cards with that Guild’s name in their title. Due to the nature of Ravnica, you obviously cannot choose more than one Guild.

Harvest from Others — Sometimes, at night, you try to slip out and take untapped resources from others without notice. At the beginning of your upkeep you may reveal the top card of your library. If it is a land, draw it. You got away! If not lose two life, because you got caught.

Higher Ground — It is extremely important both in battle and in life to acquire the higher ground. You have improved reach, range, and perspective. At the beginning of your fourth turn search your library for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped under your control. Then shuffle up.

Incognito — It’s good to keep things a little secret. To keep your foes guessing. That’s why your face down creatures get +1/+1, because you can make the most of them.

Insubstantial — Teaching your minions how to be not-there when they are is one of the most difficult tasks. Only those already imbued with a level of slipperiness can learn. All creatures you control with a natural landwalk ability are now unblockable. ⁴

Interchangeable Parts — All of your creatures that enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters now have both graft and modular. All creatures you control that naturally had modular can now give their counters to any creature upon death, and not just artifact ones.

Levy — Players cannot attack you, or a Planeswalker you control, without discarding a card. Unlike other taxing effect, they only have to do this once per turn.

Oracle — One of the most important things you can do is to be able to see and understand the future. The more you know, the better. With this Trait, whenever you cast an instant or sorcery (not from an ability), that lets you look at or reveal the top X cards from your library, you may add 1 to that number. So you can dig one further with scry, or get four cards with Ponder. Note that this only works on your library. It also does not work on effects that are unknown. You aren’t revealing an extra card from Erratic Explosion. Only set abilities get another.

Orb of Ice — The mythical Orb of Ice is a powerful artifact, and if you can find it, you’ll want to use it. At the beginning of each game, choose a number. For that game, all spells with a converted casting cost equal to the chosen number cost double instead. So a Giant Growth would cost if the Orb were set to 1, and an Aspect of Wolf would cost if it were set to 2, and so forth. This effects every player at the table, including the person who tossed the Orb.

Pact with Demons — A fast way to accumulate power is to make a deal and sign a pact with Demons. But it won’t be without. But what true path to power would be? Starting on turn three, at the beginning of your upkeep, and every turn thereafter, place a 3/3 flying Demon token into play with the ability, “During your Upkeep, lose life equal to the number of Demons you control.” (You’ll note that each token gets the same ability, so you will lose life geometrically. So with one out, you’ll lose 1 life, then 2 gives you 4 life, then 3 into 9 life, etc).

Pet — A lot of Planewalkers have a pet that they like to use in battle or for information. Choose any creature that has a casting cost of 1 or less that resembles a real animal. Gain Access to that card. You may begin with one on the battlefield. Examples include Spore Frog, Suntail Hawk, or Jackal Pup.

Pledged to a Deity — After spending some time on Theros, you have decided to pledge your fidelity to one of the Deities of Theros. Choose one and write it down. Gain Access to every card with that God in their name, including the God itself.

Reader of Fortunes — You have the ability to read the fortunes of others, and use it in order to help shape them and the future now. All of your creatures get, “1, Tap: Scry 1” where 1 is one colorless mana. Gain Access to Crystal Ball.

Rebellious Nature — You have a bit of a rebellious nature by design or by experience. All of your creatures with the word, “Rebel” or “Renegade” in their name gain the Rebel creature type. Write down three non-legendary creature with the Rebel creature type, and you can Access to them. (Yes, those can include those given Rebel by this Trait, so you could get Access to Ramosian Lieutenant, Whipcorder, Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero, Quicksmith Rebel, Vithian Renegades, and more)

Rings, Staffs and Wands — You are more of a magic user who sits back and lets others fight for you. Let’s work to enhance that magic! You gain Access to one Ring, one Staff, and one Wand, and finally one other magical non-weapon and non-armor, such as an Amulet, for a total of 4 cards from this Trait.

Seer – Can you see what is hidden? Can you peek at what is meant to be left alone? Great! If you have Seer, then at the beginning of your upkeep you may do one of the following determined each upkeep:

1. Look at the top three cards of target player’s library;
2. Look at target player’s hand;
3. Look at a face-down creature; or
4. Look at a face-down exiled card.

Once you have completed that task, continue on with your turn you Seer you.

Shardist — Have you been to the Shards of the plane of Alara? Like Elspeth, did you build an affinity for one? Great! Choose a Shard, and then you gain Access to every card with that Shard’s name it in, such as Bant or Grixis.

Sign of the Twins — Were you born under the rare but powerful Sign of the Twins? Great power will result! You may control up to two copies of legendary creatures on the battlefield instead of the one, without violating the legendary rule. For example if you control Yeva, Nature's Herald, you can still play another.

Strength from Within — You understand that to grow, you need internal power. Your creatures will learn it from you as well. During your upkeep, you may spend the casting cost of a creature you control to put a +1/+1 counter on it.

Summoner — One of the key ways that Planeswalker win duels is to conjure creatures and then use them to either attack or defend. The better your conjuring, the stronger you will be with this key part. One per turn, during your own upkeep, you may put a creature directly from your hand onto the battlefield, if it’s converted casting cost is less than the number of lands you control. For example, if you control 6 lands and you have a Durkwood Boars in your hand, you could drop it for free during your upkeep. This is typically at least a delay of two turns after you could have played the card. (Take the Boars as an example. On turn five you have five lands. You could tap and cast it then. On turn six, you have five lands during your upkeep, you have to drop your 6th land, and then pass. Finally, on turn seven, you can play the Boars for free).

Totemic Shaman — Are you the sort of person that has developed a affinity for a certain tribe? A certain race? Have you learned the ways to inspire or goad that species to victory? Great! When you select this, choose a creature type. Your creatures of that type gets +1/+1.

Skills

As a reminder, you may purchase Skills multiple times. However, you may not level up the same Skill more than once each time you level up yourself. So if you just got to level 3, and you already have Druid: 1, you cannot spend two pints and increase to Druid: 3, you could only get to Druid: 2, and would have to wait until level 4 to get another level of Druid. Anyway, we have 31 Skills⁵ below for you to choose from!

Aethermage — You know what? Forget this dopey armor junk. Or building up Walls and defenses, or anything else. At the end of the day, the best way to make sure that you aren’t being hit is to not be there when an attack inevitably falls. A lot of Planeswalkers are good at moving people around at least temporarily. This is an Action. For each Mage Point that you spend in Aethermage, once per game, you may Exile your entire group of creatures, and then return them to the battlefield at the end of this turn.

Affinity for Artifice — Do you love making artificial things? Are you a tinkerer? Great! For each Mage Point you give Affinity for Artifice, you can cast a non-artifact creature of that converted casting cost (Or less) for colorless man and as though it were an artifact creature. It will arrive, on the battlefield, with all of the incumbent strengths and weaknesses of being an artifact creature version of the creature. You may do this just once per turn. So if you have A4A: 2, on turn one, you can tap a Forest, and play that Savannah Lions for one colorless mana as an artifact creature. On turn two you can use your mana and cast a Grizzly Bears as an artifact creature. (they still have their various abilities, and color) But you could never more than one creature per turn this way, nor could you do more than your A4A skill level.

Ally — Making alliances, finding people on these planes to work with is one of the keys to success. Each time you take this select a Non-Planeswalker character from Magic-dom such as Tahngarth or Hanna. You gain Access to any card with that character’s name in the title. Thus if you had Hanna you could play Hanna's Custody but not Fact or Fiction which merely depicts her. If you are not sure if a character is or is not a Planeswalker please look it up online first.

Anti-Magic Cloak – Finding and using an Anti-Magic Cloak is great at shutting down a lot of problems that would otherwise come your way. This is an Action. For each MP you give this, then once per game, you gain shroud and protection from a color of your choice, until the end of the turn.

Awaken the Earth — Are you skilled at using the earth for you? Can you hear and awaken it’s call? For each Mage Point you have spent on Awaken the Earth, at the beginning of your upkeep, you can turn one of your lands into a redcolorless X/X Elemental creature named “Feldspar” that still counts as a land, where X is your Awaken the Earth score. ⁶

Dedicated Study — When you want to learn something, you really take the time and effort to study and learn all about it. Choose any set when you choose this Skill and note it. You gain Access to the rares in that set. (This does not count mythic rares, just rares) ⁷

Druid — Are you a bit of a Druid? Do you have a connection with the land? Great! For each Mage Point you invest, you may, once per game, draw a basic land from your library. Search your library for a basic land, reveal it, and draw it into your hand. You can use this with your opening hand, so if you have Druid: 3, and you draw serious gas in those first four cards and want to ensure it’s a real hand, then draw three basics from your library and you are Druid to go.

Duplication Machine — Have you finished making that Duplication Machine yet? Excellent! This is an Action. For each MP you spend, once per game you may cast an instant or sorcery as if it had replicate, with the replicate cost of 1 life and a cost equal to the casting cost of the spell as you cast it.

Flourisher — Do you have growth and development on your mind? For each point you have in Flourisher, at the beginning of your upkeep you may either put that many +1/+1 counters on any creature or you may put that many counters on any permanent that mentions a type of counter. Want to give a Planeswalker a pair of loyalty counters with your Flourisher: 2? Go right ahead! Or give that Wily Bandar two counters in your upkeep. And if a creature mentions a counter, you can do either one (Rasputin Dreamweaver for example).

Herbalist — Understanding how to use various herbs to help others is a valuable skill for any Planeswalker to use, especially those with allies instead of slaves, and friends instead of Zombies. This is an Action. For each point of Herbalist, you may, once per game, use a regeneration shield for any permanent you control. This regen effect is so powerful that it will even regen something that would normally disallow regeneration. Take Terror as a good example. You can use Herbalist to regen up a Shivan Dragon and keep it out, even when Terror would normally disallow regeneration.

Honor by Pyre — Part of being a Planeswalker is understanding and learning to embrace, both your own customs, and those of other cultures, especially if you find something of serious value from those cultures. Do you honor the dead by burning them? This is an Action. For each MP you invest, you may one time exile one graveyard from the game.

Honored by the Tribe — Getting and working with one species or race takes a lot of effort, but can give you powerful payback in the form of stronger cohesion within the group. Each time you take this Skill, choose two sorceries or instants you already have Access to with the name of a creature type in the title of the card. Those two cards gain Tribal — Type, and gain the type of the creature concerned. For example, you could make Goblin Grenade a Tribal Sorcery — Goblin or Elvish Fury a Tribal Instant — Elf. Enjoy!

Magic Adept — You have become more experienced with Magic and spells. For each Mage Point you sink into Adept, choose a Block of Magic and write it down. (You may also choose one set, if it’s not part of a block, so Homelands could be taken). You gain Access to all uncommons from that Block or set of your choice. Note that Ice Age block includes Coldsnap and Alliances and not Homelands. This will usually get you just half the cards that Memory but you can choose the block or set yourself instead of being forced to use a predetermined list. Note that you can choose Portal sets as well as silver-bordered sets with this if your playgroup normally allows the silver world.

Memory — There have been a lot of creatures, artifacts, spells, lands, and more out there. How many can you actually bring to mind? As you learn and explore, you find large groups out there to harness, often simpler concepts. When you select this Trait, choose an Era of Standard (I will show you the list below). You can Access to all of the commons in those various blocks and sets. ⁸

Era —

Modern Era: Khans Block, Magic Origins, Battle for Zendikar Block

Heroic Era: Return to Ravnica Block, Theros Block, M14, M15

Dark Era: Innistrad Block, Scars Block, M12, M13

Planar Conflict Era: Shards Block, Zendikar Block, M10, M11

Temporal Era: Coldsnap, Time Spiral Block, Tenth Edition, Lorwyn Block

Bronze Era: Ninth Edition, Ravnica Block, Kamigawa Block

Silver Era: Eighth Edition, Mirrodin Block, Onslaught Block

Golden Era: Seventh Edition, Invasion Block, Odyssey Block

Platinum Era: Sixth Edition, Mases Block, Urza’s Block

Mythic Era: Fifth Edition, Tempest Block, Mirage Block

Antiquated Era: Fourth Edition, Ice Age, Alliances, Homelands, Fallen Empires

Ancient Era: Beta, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends , The Dark

Portal Era: Portal, Portal: Second Age, Portal: Three Kingdoms, Starter

Moon Kissed — A number of creatures, cards, and other effects have been cursed with various curses, such as lycanthropy. But you have skilled yourself in the ability to change them. For each point you have spent in Moon Kissed, on your turn, as an instant, you may flip a flip card to the other side. You may not flip that same card again until your next turn.

Mythical Pedigree — Some Planeswalkers either were born with a strong pedigree, or trained under someone strong and powerful. Each time you purchase this Skill, choose any set from Shards of Alara on. You gain Access to the Mythical Rares from that set. However, you may not use more than one of each card in your deck, no matter your Recall stat.

Necromancer — People who don’t understand the value of a good corpse are never going to understand the sheer power that Necromancy offers. There is so much here for the taking! For each point you drop in Necromancer you may once during a game replace a draw by drawing from your graveyard instead of your library.

Oneiromancer — It’s a rare gift to understand the power of dreams. But it’s valuable all right. During your upkeep, you may Scry: X where X is the number of Mage Points you invested in Oneiromancer.

Pact Among Equals — Allying with locals on the planes is one thing, but getting other Planeswalkers to join your cause is going to be a lot more fruitful. And that’s why each time you select this you must spend Two Mage Points instead of the normal 1 MP. Select a Planeswalker character and jot it down. You gain Access to every card with that Planeswalker in the title, including their own Planeswalker card. Examples include Jace or Chandra or Urza or Serra.

Pyromancer — Boom goes . . . well . . . everything really. Want to blow stuff up? If a spell or ability you control would deal damage to a player or creature, it deals 1 additional damage instead for each Mage Point you spent in Pyromancer.

Regional Affiliation — Many Planeswalkers have a strong affinity for a given area or region, either because that’s where they hail from, or invested a lot of time with. It takes a lot of work, time, and effort to build an affiliation with an entire region, so this Skill takes 2 MP to purchase each time. Choose and note a region in Magic-dom, such as Llanowar or Shiv. You gain Access to every card with that region in its title.

Sage — There are a lot of obscure things in life to know about. Sometimes it’s just nice to learn about one truly great thing in existence. For each point of Sage, choose one card in Magic. You gain Access to that card and may play up to four copies of that card in as many decks as you wish no matter what your Recall is. If you like, you may select one card that is normally banned in Legacy as your Sage, but, you must do so with permission of your playgroup. (Legacy has a few cards that make no sense being banned here, so this is a way to get them as long as you are being fair with them).

Savoir Faire — How glib are you? Are you able to talk your way into or out of something? This is an Action. For each point of Savoir Faire you have, you are able to, once per game, counter a spell, put it back in that person’s hand, and they cannot cast that spell for three turns.

Sign of the Jester — Were you born under the Sign of the Jester? It’s supposed to be a Sign of great luck! Even if you weren’t, you can make the appropriate sacrifices and allegiances and gain it later. For each Mage Point you invest, at the start of the game, you may take a free mulligan that no one else can use. Shuffle up and try again! ⁹

Solicit — Are you able to convince someone to join your cause? Whether through bribery, torture, or threat, each person has a way to “convince” them of the justness of your cause. This is an Action. For every point of Solicit you have, you may once per game exile a card in your hand. When you do choose a creature, and you gain control of it.

Touched by the Gods — Have you been touched by a God on Theros? They can bestow a wonderful blessing for you if you have. Each time you select this skill, choose three creatures with a casting cost of two or more you already have Access to and note them. They are now enchantment creatures with a bestow cost equal to twice their casting cost, and they give the bestowed creature all of their abilities, and +X/+Y for their stats, equal to their own power and toughness.

Vernal Mastery — Spring is an amazing time of year. It is when the people start recovered from winter, and the land opens up. And people have always had a deep, spiritual untethered connection with Spring. There is something . . . primal . . . about it. Every sorcery you play gets split second, if it’s casting cost is equal to, or less than, your Vernal Mastery score.

Virtue — You have either been blessed with a remarkable amount of virtue, or have come to it with hard work and dedication. Either way, your creatures that naturally have bushido now have double their bushido ability.

Tactician — You have developed a level of cleverness and understand of battlefield tactics that is pretty strong. Every time you choose this Skill, select one of the keyword abilities listed here. All of your creatures gain that ability: Flanking, First Strike, Provoke, Absorb: 1, Vigilance, Reach, Banding, Wither, Fateseal: 1, Prowess or Bushido: 1.

Master Tactician — Wow, you have gotten even better than a normal Tactician. You are really pushing your team now! These keywords take an investment of 2 Mage Points, instead of the normal 1, to illustrate how much more training is needed, but you are an admitted master of tactics. Your options include – Lifelink, Flying, Intimidate, Trample, Ingest, Skulk, Unleash, Bloodthirst: 2, Exalted, Fabricate: 1, Devour: 2

Genius Tactician — There are those that are masters at the art of war, and then there are pure geniuses, and the top of their craft and trade. It takes a lot to get here, and you have to spend 3 MP for one of these keywords, but they are truly something special. (If you level up and want to spend your full 3 MP you gain at that level for GT, you may, and you can skip the rule that requires you spend at least 1 MP on Stats each time you level). Your options include: Double Strike, Battle Cry, Deathtouch, Haste, Evolve, Shadow, Landfall — (This gets +1/+1), Hexproof, Persist, or Regeneration: 2 (spend two colorless mana to regenerate it).

That’s an awesome looking Planeswalker!

Now that you have created your character, what’s next?

Experience Points

Head on out there and play some games against other Planeswalkers! You can play duels or multiplayer, whatever works. As you play, you will gain Experience Points (EXP), so track them as you play. You will always get EXP for playing, even if you lose, but the system below rewards you more for winning, and even more for winning against someone with a higher level as you have.

As you gain more EXP, you can level up. When that happens, you gain 3 more Mage Points, to spend and further strengthen your character. When you spend these, at least 1 must be spent for Stats and 1 for Traits or Skills.

How do you figure out the assignment of EXP for games?

EXP Gained

• A. You get two points for winning a duel. Congrats!
• B. You get one point for losing a duel or multiplayer game (did not come in first or second). Thanks!
• C. You get an extra point if you win a duel against someone two or more levels above you. Wow!
• D. You get points equal to the number of players minus two (Minimum 3) for winning a multiplayer game. (3, 4, or 5 players — 3 points; 6 players — 4 points; 7 players — 5 EXP,etc). Go You!
• E. You get 2 EXP for coming in second in any multiplayer game. Not bad!
• F. You get an extra point if you come in first or second in a multiplayer game and at least half of the players have a higher level. You rock!

And there you have it. Now how do you know if you level up?

The Experience Chart:

Level 1 — 0 EXP

Level 2 — 10 EXP

Level 3 — 21 EXP

Level 4 — 33 EXP

Level 5 — 46 EXP

Level 6 — 60 EXP

Level 7 — 75 EXP

Level 8 — 91 EXP

Level 9 — 108 EXP

Level 10 — 126 EXP

Level 11 — 150 EXP

Each level after that is 25 more EXP. So level 12 is 175 EXP, then 200EXP for 13 and such.

And that’s it! Being a Planeswalker is hard, rewarding, and there are so many ways for you to get your mystical groove on.

Here’s a sample character sheet, if you wanted to see one way to track your Planeswalker:

Planeswalker Name:

Level:

Experience Points:

Stats

Mental Fortitude:

Physical Fortitude:

Recall:

Constraint:

Traits

Skills

And that’s it! What are you waiting for? A platinum invitation delivered by stork? Head on out and ignite your spark!

In the meantime, I am working on a separate set of Magic: RPG rules for Commander and will look to publish those soon. I need time to play-test them. I created this format back in 2007, ten years ago, and I have modified it a few times sense. This is as great a time as any to do get your Planeswalker on and get those crucial EXP to make your Planeswalker your own!

Oh, and expect me to come back to this a few times over the next few months. I want to add in a few optional rules and more crunchy rules bits, but first, I want you to enjoy the Magic RPG!

P.S. — Heya! Thanks for reading! Check out my new website, at my name — abesargent.com. It’s a website where I am creating and walking you through a large pan-gaming sci-fi adventure that should prove epic in scope and which you can play along with, if you want. So swing on by and check it out!

P.P.S. — Check out the various endnotes below, for some more detailed information, as well as some cool in-jokes or explanations for those that care of why I made certain changes to the old rules in this iteration.

¹ This is technically the 3rd Edition for those who care, but I am removing that branding. It’s just the modern, streamlined version of my Magic RPG project.

² Normally I wouldn’t spell out what you get Access to like this, but I felt it was important to understand Access outside of the obvious Rares from Set X or Jace planeswalkers. This was one of the first places to have a different sort of Access, so I wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page with what that meant. This is also a little bit of an in-joke. This always been a Trait option since my first edition and the first article I wrote, but you began with Scarwood Bandits in play, and an in-joke to my love for Scarwood Bandits, and the article I wrote, a long time ago back in 2002 called, “Why Nobody Loves Scarwood Bandits But Me.” I didn’t like it as a purely self-referential in joke anymore, and I was moving away from that in this edition anyway and looking to play it straight, so I hope you enjoy the history, and like how I changed it up. And it’s true! Nobody Loves Scarwood Bandits But Me!

³ Gone, for now, is the Veto Phase at the beginning of the game. I intend to add it back in a future article looking at just the Veto Phase. But I retained Filterscope and Orb of Ice as useful abilities that work well even without it. I just wanted to boil the rules down to the simplest version that I could. For this reason, I made this a very, very flavor-first rather than the rules-heavy and rules-centric nature of the other articles prior to this one. I also made official the parts about things like the Action concept, which didn’t exist before as a separate rule. This is about being and playing and growing as a Planeswalker, rather than a mere format to use to play Magic.

⁴ For the same reason, I reduced the number of Traits I ran that leveled up one natural ability not another. I have just included five to give it a flavor, but I used to have a bunch of these abilities that would take something a card had and made it better, like flanking, arcane spells, and a lot more. We may hit those again, but I wanted to simplify the rules. And I added the more pertinent Accomplished Artist to double your prowess to give you a quick sample of the new version.

⁵ We initially had 40 and 30, nice even numbers, and then I realized that one of my new Traits would be better as a Skill — Oneiromancer. So I rewrote it as a Skill instead. But I kept the numbers a little wonky, since Skills are harder to make than Traits.

⁶ I wanted to have an ability that evoked Koth of the Hammer here, but I felt that the technology for Nissa, Sage Animist did it better. No sense trying to one-up Wizards of the Coast if they made it work. I originally had the creature named Sir Smash-a-Lot, but I felt I should go a little more serious here, and just used a rock name instead, again to give a little more of a Koth feel than a Nissa one as both are elementalists that awaken the land.

⁷ It may not look like it, but this skill, Dedicated Study, is the most powerful addition to the 3rd Edition of rules, and I just decided to help people better build decks. Another major change is the jumping off point allows all uncommons from Standard in addition to commons, which was all you started off with before.

⁸ I made serious changes to a lot of rules, one of the biggest was simplifying a lot, and leaving out a lot. Memory is one of the smoothest changes, and you can purchase commons from any Era of Magic, rather than working your way backwards through time.

⁹ One of the changes I made for this latest edition of the rules was I removed all of the in-jokes. This ability, Sign of the Jester, was originally called Mulligan Man in my first two editions of the game. Other cosmetic changes were made as well.