MTG’s Venture Mechanic Wants To Send You On A Dungeon Crawl
More Adventures in the Forgotten Realms mechanics make their debut in a new batch of spoilers. Get ready for Dungeon Crawls in Magic.
Things are heating up for the upcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms set, which crosses Magic: the Gathering into Dungeons and Dragons like the Jetsons and the Flintstones coming together.
And gamers of all stripes are delighted to see how D&D concepts translate into Magic Cards. So far we’ve seen gods, adventurers, magic spells and items (including the vorpal sword), but today we’re looking at one of the more esoteric concepts–the Dungeon Crawl. In AFR, these take the form of Ventures. Check em out.
via Wizards of the Coast
Dungeons are a major part of the D&D experience, and they’re a big part of the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms experience as well. Dungeon is a brand-new card type. There are three dungeons in this set, including Dungeon of the Mad Mage.
Dungeons don’t go in your deck. Rather, they start outside the game and end up in the command zone for a while. More on that later. In games held under tournament conditions, “cards from outside the game” means cards from your sideboard, but dungeons work a little differently. Dungeons don’t take up sideboard slots. You always have access to all three dungeons, and you’ll never need more than one of the same one.
The way you’ll activate these is with cards that have a new keyword action, venture into the dungeon. Which can be a part of a character’s ability, or an effect in and of itself.
If you venture into the dungeon while you don’t have any dungeons in the command zone, meaning you’re not in a dungeon, it’s time to start your journey! Put the dungeon of your choice into the command zone and put a venture marker on the first room, at the top. Your venture marker is a way for you to track which room you’re in, just like a mini tells you where you are on a D&D map. Each player has their own dungeon all to themselves. There are no cards (as of this set; the future is long) that allow other players to interfere with your dungeon or your venture marker.
Every time you enter a room, including the first room, its room ability triggers. These abilities all read “When you enter this room, [the effect printed in the room].” For example, when you enter the Yawning Portal, you gain 1 life.
As you go room by room you resolve different effects, and once you’ve cleared a dungeon, you clear it. And that can have an effect on later cards as well.
Happy Adventuring
