Essence-tially Perfect
What does essence do for the scrivener? We’re glad to tell you! It’s a big undertaking and a very distinct design decision. Welcome to the article explaining essence and infuse.
INFUSE ALL THE THINGS
During development of Wayfarer, we had a problem. The players, over time through upgrades and even just having the Spark Emblem (which does a lot of work on its own) would be able to overwhelm the scrivener with ease. How could we fix this problem? That was when we came up with the infuse mechanic. It’s a scrivener-only mechanic that allows them to “power up” their cards for a short time. This effect lasts until the next turn, and is tied to a large, crucial component that does all the heavy lifting: Essence Lands. Infuse in general can be done using three untapped Essence lands, allowing the scrivener some strategic choice: do they go right away for some infusing, or spend mana on more spells? Infusing, in general, makes it so Essence lands don’t untap during their next untap step.
THE ESSENCE MUST FLOW
Essence lands are, well, essential to any scrivener’s gameplay. Infuse is an optional power boost mechanic that the scrivener can use for tension in the gameplay, or to strike down wayfarers’ cards that are getting the game too out of hand. Activated at any time at sorcery speed during the scrivener’s turn, it’s a state-based action like morph turning a card face up, so players cannot stop you from doing it. It’s also a way to roleplay with the players engaging with the game and create mood, tone, and setting for every scenario you play through together. The second way essence lands are used is to generate mana that’s every color. This allows the scrivener to pay for costs they wouldn’t be otherwise able to pay, because of not having any lands in their deck. (Otherwise, a player could easily use cost enchantments to lock the scrivener out of the game, such as Ghostly Prison.) Every scrivener’s turn, they create a new Essence land. This mechanic works very similar to something you’ve probably seen before in other popular card games. It gives the scrivener room to flex and pay for things as needed to keep the game moving.
INFUSED WITH EXCELLENCE
I hope that was enough to help you figure out the method and madness behind essence landsand infuse. These are power boosting mechanics we added to let the scrivener gain an advantage, or balance the game back to more fun levels. Players enjoy a challenge, and this way, you can really bring it to them! I look forward to your stories of crazy infusion plays in games!
Next article will be all about how to upgrade your deck between scenarios (say, going from Tier 1 to Tier 2). See you there!
— Ashodin (Thirteen, RiptideProLab)
