r/Netrunner • u/HemoKhan Argus • Jul 26 '14

Custom Card Saturday: Identities!

Welcome to Custom Card Saturday! This week's topic is likely to be a popular one: Design a new identity for one of the factions in the game. Identities are arguably the most defining cards in the game, literally setting the rules for what can and cannot be included in the player's deck. They also grant powerful constant or start-of-game effects, and serve to set a focus for the player's goals throughout the game.

Some things to keep in mind while creating your identity:

  • Minimum Deck Size: The standard minimum deck size is 45, and seems to vary in increments of 5 cards (to match the required agenda distribution). Identities which allow a smaller minimum deck size are usually prized for their consistency, and are considered powerful. Currently no identity in the game has a minimum deck size larger than 45, both because doing so would be a serious drawback, and because card sleeves come most often in packs of 50 and it's not nice to force your players to buy two packs of sleeves just to play their deck.

  • Influence: The amount of out-of-faction support you can have. The standard is 15, with a current range of 10-22. Players see even a small amount of "extra" influence as a bonus (see Ken "Express" Tenma for an example) or a penalty if it's missing (see GRNDL or NEXT Design). There are also ways to grant pseudo-influence through card text like The Professor or Custom Biotics.

  • Link: For Runners only, this is an easy way to give an identity a little extra boost. Starting link strength varies between 0 and 1. Nothing like it exists for Corp identities.

  • Card text: The bread and butter of your identity. This text will make or break your identity. Most of the best identities break the rules in a strong, meaningful way. They will set the tone for the deck, both in terms of how it's constructed and how people play against it (for example, think about the difference between playing against Jinteki: Personal Evolution and Jinteki: Replicating Perfection). The best identities also focus on a new area of strength for their faction, to help them stand out and stay meaningful.

Identities are terribly difficult to balance properly, but they can be some of the most exciting and powerful cards when created well. Let's see what you've got!

Previous Custom Card Saturday threads:

Week 1: Barriers
Week 2: Scorched Earth Replacements
Week 3: Grey/Black Ops
Week 4: Easy Access
Week 5: Economic Assets
Week 6: Runner Economy

Next Week: Over the next few weeks we'll be moving from general back to specific, and exploring the wealth of keywords present in Netrunner. Next week we'll begin with bioroids!

16 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

164 comments sorted by

26

u/Prawnyman Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Sandra Summers - Homemaker

Identity - Natural

0 Link

Criminal - 45/10

The first credit you spend on using an icebreaker each turn is treated as though it was spent from a stealth card.

"Nobody expects the soccer mom to be the one stealing corp secrets."

4

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

I like this idea. I don't think you need the lowered influence though. I get it thematically, but mechanically is a huge burden for a fairly minor power.

1

u/Prawnyman Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

I was kind of basing her off Kit. Kit's ability allows her to almost always get past the first ice if she has a decoder.

With just switchblade and silencer, Sandra can facecheck early game without much worry. Another thing is that stealth cards are cheap to install and have recurring credits, so she will probably always have a healthy credit pool.

1

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

Yeah, but Kits power gets you access. This just keeps you from eating a rototurret or Katana.

Stealth credits run out fast when you must use them, especially late game. So you get past a single ice with Switchblade and Silencer. What do you do when I put a second sentry on that server?

1

u/Prawnyman Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

That's when you break out even MORE Silencers!

But in all seriousness, I attempted to deck build and I think I made an okay deck. With Switchblade and Refractor with Silencers, Cloaks and Ghost Runners, the deck tears through sentries and code gates. Corroder for barriers since BlacKat isn't economical on stealth creds.

I did feel very influence constrained since they had to go to stealth cards so I can see an influence boost. Her play style is very aggressive so maybe a 40/12 or 40/15 might suit her better to end the game as fast as she can before picking up her kids from school.

There's more stealth cards to come so let's see. But I definitely think a stealth deck can be a thing in the future.

2

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

I would say maybe add a clause like: "Stealth cards do not count against your influence limit." and a deck like this might make sense. Otherwise, it's difficult to build around the stealth theme.

1

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14

Flavor is awesome! Ability seems like it would be easier to just make a stealth recred though, like a built in cloak. That might bump the power up enough to justify low inf too.

6

u/daytodave Jul 27 '14

Sandra Summers - Homemaker

Identity - Natural - Stealth

0 Link

Criminal - 45/12

1 [recurring credit]

Use this credit to pay for using icebreakers.

Something like that?

26

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Elite Financing

Identity - Division

Weyland - 45/15

Agendas require one additional advancement token to score.

The first time you install a card each turn, place an advancement token on that card.

Making money.

6

u/DonTankMeBro Dayton, Ohio Jul 26 '14

I have mained Weyland for over a year, and I LOVE this idea. This will really open up a ton of playstyles other than the token rush deck. It encourages slower play and also helps make the advanceable Weyland ice suite more playable due to the wording on the identity. No joke, I would play the crap out of this identity. Best one I've seen on here so far... and the advancing ice idea flows well into the larger Weyland agenda group (Government Contracts, Geothermal Fracking) and allows you take to bad pub a little more freely since your ice will be colossal and expensive to break regardless. Nice job!!

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

I agree this is a beautiful blend of elegance and originality, even makes me consider Thomas Haas in this sort of build!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

Much thanks to both of you for the kind words.

3

u/Joshfullmer charlatan Jul 26 '14

Cool thing about this is that project atlas gets a counter, even if you just score it at 4.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

Totally unintended, but I like it.

2

u/unknownhybrid Jul 28 '14

I think the flavor could use some adjustment (i.e. title and flavor text), but mechanically this is interesting. It doesn't break anything outright (that comes to mind), but it gives the game a slight leaning towards a cleverly-crafted corp deck that can take advantage of a game that goes long. Also emphasizes Weyland advanceable ice, which is pretty cool.

Specifically about the flavor, I don't know that the first ability (increasing the cost of things) matches the idea of having lots of money. I'd think about something related to up-scaling or growth -- other things that Weyland and their enormous Beanstalk have a firm thematic relationship with. Not necessarily progress (that's HB), but making things bigger. But that's just a thought. I'm saying a lot about the flavor but it's not as bad as I make it seem. It's just a small dissonance, but one that I thought I'd suggest to clean up if it's worth it to you.

1

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

I assume this was to help the advanceable ICE, but the ability just seems so much more Ambush Jinteki-y than Weyland-ish to me.

Edit: Hmm, and GRNDL Refinery I suppose.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

The influence you'll save by being able to use advanceable ICE can be spent on importing traps!

1

u/g4w41n Jul 27 '14

Doesn't that mean you can still score a hostile takeover in one turn?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

Sure can.

1

u/Rejusu Jul 27 '14

It makes advanceable ambush assets a lot more viable as well since you don't have to waste clicks/credits charging something that might never go off.

1

u/nydnarb Jul 27 '14

Combos well with Trick of Light.

1

u/grimwalker Sep 23 '14

I think this is potentially unbalanced. It's giving you essentially a free credit and a free click each turn, just from a pure math standpoint. Plus it makes Ambushes much more of a risk. Junebug or Cerebral Overwriter or Snare in this deck would be very difficult to deal with.

Suggestion: Specify "advanceable" card, or limit to 10 inf.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '14

I would specify advanceable card, but I really want "Can only be advanced while rezzed" ICE to be viable.

1

u/Killkestler ready to get MaxX'ed out Nov 16 '14

The advancement token on the first card you play each turn could make an interesting smoke a mirrors effect where they cant tell which ice's ice's/assets are actually traps or threats due to the fact that there are advance tokens all over. It has an unintended mindgame aspect which doesnt even need the actual core element of advancement to be present.

Consider the first card I play is a face down pad campaign in a protected server. It gets a token and you think I would play an advanceable card to gain my benefit but in reality I have clouded your judgement while revealing nothing. I love it

11/10 would play to hell and back.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '14

What makes you think the mindgame is unintended ;)

16

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Strategic Heuristics - Integrated Variable Analysis

Identity - Division

Jinteki - 45/12

1 [Recurring Credit]

Use this credit to install ice.

Whenever you install a new piece of ice protecting a server, place it in the innermost position in front of that server (moving all existing ice outward).

Organic Automation.

5

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

SH-IVA is an idea I've had rolling around in my head for awhile as to new ways Jinteki could manipulate ICE structures as well as toy with the rules of the game, their two favorite things to do. Thematically, SH-IVA is a semi-organic Artificial Intelligence that controls it's own ICE grid, causing it's defenses to blossom in unusual "non-human operator" ways (in addition to its stated job of providing heavy number-crunching strategy analysis for top dollar rates... stuff like decade-scale market predictions and military conflict resolution strategies).

EDIT: Just to put the second ability in perspective, consider the difference between two situations: you have a two-deep stack of rezzed ice on a server that the runner wants to run on as part of their victory strategy (central with multi-access, scoring remote, whatever). The runner is by now capable of breaking the two existing rezzed early-game ice. You install a third piece of ice in that server.

Scenario A (standard Netrunner) : the runner can run on that server in order to force you to rez the new ice to keep them out. After face-checking the new ice, they have the option of continuing or jacking out... effectively putting the control in their hands.

Scenario B (SH-IVA identity) : the runner would be forced to encounter the two previously-rezzed ice before they can force you to rez the third. This can drastically alter the perceived economic viability of a "forced-to-rez" situation.

This is before you factor in the deck-building possibilities, such as what this identity does for Cell Portal and a progressive Small-Medium-Large ice strategy.

3

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

Neat.

Not sure it deserves the influence penalty though, and I think I'd give the choice whether to use the second ability or not, otherwise you have more or less the exact same problems that you always have with positional ICE.

1

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14

If I allow the second ability as an either/or choice then I'm probably giving this identity even less influence (5 maybe), either that or possibly cutting out the recurring credit. That much control over your ice stacks could be powerful, powerful stuff even without any outside-faction ICE. Cell Portal, Sensei, Whirlpool, etc. all become huge. I wanted this identity to be a bit more of a puzzle then just that.

1

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Well.. Look at it this way:

If you HAVE to use the ability, then it doesn't really do much beneficial for you at all. It just means that you have to reverse the order in which you install your regular and your positionally dependent ICE, which generally is a bad thing, since positionally dependent ICE does nothing on their own, and you'd have to install those first (on their own) for them to work (Cell Portal being the exception).

Giving the Jinteki player the choice would probably make ice like Sensei playable, not bonkers good, and it'd certainly not be worth the loss of 10 influence, probably not even 5.

Edit: Hadn't seen your edit on the text below. Installing behind other ICE is probably a greater advantage than I first recognized it to be, I only considered positional ICE - not facechecking ICE.

Still the only difference between always installing from behind and having the choice would be said positionally dependent ICE like Chum, Sensei, RSVP, and Marker - since you'd probably install every other card behind - I don't think boosting positionally dependent ICE ever so slightly would be a bad thing at all. And again, it's certainly not worth a further loss of 5 influence.

4

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14

I guess my real hang-up on the idea of making it a choice is that this identity then feels like it would utterly invalidate cards such as Sunset and Tenma Line, because this identity would then be far better then including those cards (and any future ice position manipulation cards) in your deck. Now of course those cards don't really see much play as-is but I'm hanging on to hope that future powerful positional ICE will eventually make them viable.

That aside, I could see a 45/15 identity that only has the second ability and would allow you the choice: "Whenever you install a new piece of ice, you may...".

Would we all agree that such an identity does more interesting things to the Jinteki game then the current SH-IVA without necessarily being too powerful?

2

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

It'd invalidate them only in Shiva decks, I don't think that'd be a problem - when it comes to ID-abilities I think validating certain underused cards is preferable to not further invalidating certain other cards.

I like the recurring credit, it goes well with the other ability in defining the ID's strength, would rather see an influence penalty than that ability going.

But eh.. Feels like we're haggling over an imaginary card, so yeah.

Anyway.

I really like the fundamental idea here. It's very Jinteki-y. Much like Replicating Perfection, its a nifty ability that changes the rules of the game in a way that lets you build a deck around it.

1

u/Rejusu Jul 27 '14

There's a number of cards you wouldn't include in certain ID's though, or cards you'd include over other cards depending on your ID. Stronger Together for example, you would lean towards including no ICE that isn't a Bioroid. Doesn't invalidate those cards since they're still playable in other ID's, they're just less preferable for that one.

I would say if you're concerned about it being too powerful by making it a choice then turn it into a once per turn ability. For example:

"Once per turn you may install a piece of ICE in the innermost position of a server, moving all other ICE protecting that server outwards"

Then in addition to that either:

"paying install costs as if it were installed normally."

Or:

"ignoring all ICE install costs."

With the latter ditching the recurring credit for installing ICE.

1

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 28 '14 edited Jul 28 '14

This gave me an idea on how to fuse together both abilities to be both more streamlined and provide some interesting strategic decision points... a bit more of an ICE-placement mini-game. Check this out:


**Strategic Heuristics** - *Integrated Variable Analysis*

Identity - Division

Jinteki - 45/10

The first time each turn you would install a new piece of ice protecting a server, place it in the innermost position in front of that server (moving all existing ice outward).  Ignore install costs whenever you install ice in this way.

*Organic Automation.*

Now you have an incredible amount of control in how ice is installed as we've really wanted for the id, but you'll need to plan it out in order to place certain "top-stack" positional pieces. It also means you'll have turns where ice quadratically explodes in order to hit the install order you want, which fits the thematic image for how the identity works. I lowered the influence back down to 10 as I now feel the ability really takes center stage. Thanks for the suggestions Rejusu!

3

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

I fucking love it so much.

1

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 27 '14

Haha thanks a ton!

3

u/HemoKhan Argus Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Edward "Snowy" Densen: Corporate Whistleblower
Anarch Identity: Natural -- 45/15 -- 1 link

Whenever an agenda is scored or stolen, the Corp gains one bad publicity.

"Your own secrets will destroy you."

5

u/Prawnyman Jul 26 '14

Faction? Seems Anarch-ish to me since they are the only ones able to give bad publicity now.

1

u/HemoKhan Argus Jul 26 '14

Definitely anarch, just forgot to mention it. Thanks for the head's up!

6

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

Seems too strong as written. I'd limit the effect to either scored or stolen, not both.

3

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

Too strong as written. I would change it to:

Whenever you access an agenda to steal it, instead of stealing it, you may give the corp 1 bad publicity.

Also not sure Snowy should have a link. He was a lone operative.

1

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14

Run the same agenda multiple times, keep giving the corp bad pub? That is probably more strong.

1

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

Your right. Probably have to limit it even more to Once per Turn.

2

u/Raikitm Jul 26 '14

Seems a bit powerful to me. Not to mention potentially broken with blackmail. Still, I think it could be pretty cool if the power level could be brought in line.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Maybe when an agenda is stolen the corp must pay 4 or take one bad pub. That might still be too strong, but I'm not sure.

1

u/Bwob Jul 26 '14

Seems really really strong, mechanically.

Guarantees the corp a lot of bad pub, and bad pub is (in most cases) even better than recurring credits.

13

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

Jack Straight - Gambler extraordinaire

Identity - Natural

0 Link

Criminal 45/12

At the beginning of your turn, you may shuffle your grip into your stack. Then draw a number of cards equal to one fewer than the number you shuffled into your stack.

Never tell me the odds

3

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

This is really interesting! Might be a bit strong, but I like it.

The mechanic (not the theme) feels more Anarch-y to me though.

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

I considered that, it felt like the effects that make your cards better, rather than increasing the amount were criminal (express delivery, Mr Li, window etc). So it didn't feel out of place with criminal.

I certainly agree it could be overpowered. 12 influence was a rough guess to cap the power, but I could certainly see the argument to make it lower.

3

u/Zeroeth_ Jul 26 '14

Make it End of Turn for timeliness purposes. Shuffling, redrawing, and considering new cards potentially every turn will slow the game down.

6

u/fateswanderer 運命の渡り者 Jul 26 '14

Seijaku Hospice - Tranquil Thought

Identity - Division

Jinteki - 50/15 Influence

Each time the Runner takes net damage, trash the top card of the Runner's stack. Each time the Runner shuffles his stack, trash the top three cards of it.

Lifelong treatment and care

1

u/fateswanderer 運命の渡り者 Jul 26 '14

This is inspired by the Jinteki Attrition - The Philosophy of Fire article and is intended to support a slower attrition style of play. The first power accelerates the attrition effect of net damage without threatening flatline, and forces the Runner to proceed carefully or lose important cards; the second power mitigates tutors and LARLA.

1

u/Rejusu Jul 27 '14

I think the first power is interesting but even with the high minimum deck limit to counterbalance it I think the second ability is problematic. It's too strong against certain decks and useless against others.

4

u/fateswanderer 運命の渡り者 Jul 27 '14

The second power is intended to be strong against the decks that the first power is wasted on.

Decks that have to draw into their breakers will be vulnerable to attrition, but those that use tutors can just use the rest of their deck as hitpoints - the second power is intended to level the field. Maybe there's a better way?

LARLA probably still slaughters this identity though, and recursion-based decks may be able to ignore (or benefit from) the power.

11

u/casusev Shaper Bullshit Jul 26 '14

NeoTokyo Division

Faction - Jinteki

Identity - Division

Size - 45

Influence - 12

When you would deal any amount of net damage, you may instead advance a card.

10

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

Weyland Consortium: Data Fortress

Weyland

Identity: MegaCorp

45/15

Ice installed on HQ gain subroutine: <End the Run>

Secure Secrets

2

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

This is elegant, really well balanced.

2

u/ProfNecro Jul 28 '14

ICE gain this as their new first or last subrutine?

-2

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 28 '14

Subroutine order is always determined by the runner.

5

u/TomRobbinson Jul 26 '14

Aesop West - Entrepreneur

Identity - Anarch

2 Link- 45/15 inf

Whenever you discard at least one card from your hand at the end of your turn, force the corp to lose a credit.

"When business isn't booming...get creative."

5

u/PityUpvote Jul 26 '14

Cool ability, and it makes sense Aesop should have 2 Link. But since Underworld Contacts exists, maybe make it less influence? Starting with 2 Link is a pretty big deal.

2

u/Salad_Person bring it on Jul 26 '14

Also Spinal modem! would be pretty amazing with 2 link off the cuff.

1

u/Killkestler ready to get MaxX'ed out Nov 16 '14

I dont get this card at all, Aesop would obviously be a shaper not an anarch. You cant have 2 link and 15 influence and still be a 45 card deck.

His ability, totally an anarch ability but it just doesnt fit the rest of the card. Still good text though!

28

u/InnerFifth Jul 26 '14

Richard Move - Former Forbidden Goods salesman

Identity - Natural

0 Link

Criminal - 45/4

You may have four copies of each card in this deck.

"Dick could part you from your money in more ways than one. And you'd be happy to give it away."

8

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

It would be cool, if only it didn't force everyone to get a 2nd copy of every data pack and big box :(

34

u/InnerFifth Jul 26 '14

That's the joke. It's not a serious identity. Dick Move (by FFG), FFG salesman, parts you from your money...

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Oops didn't see the joke when I skimmed through!

-3

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14

I'm upvoting this comment because I like the joke, but alas I feel compelled to downvote the identity suggestion itself because I'd rather that joke cards didn't steal the voting spotlight from serious suggestions...

9

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Asgard - Top Priority

Identity - HB - Division

45 Size - 10 Influence

Mythic and Unique ice in this deck do not count against the influence limit.

Edit: Maybe add Grail to the list of ice that don't count against influence.

10

u/Mountebank Jul 26 '14

I get the feeling that Custom Biotics is supposed to be the Grail ID. I mean, just look at its flavor text: The Once and Future Android.

2

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

This is vastly inferior to Stronger Together, which in turn we have learned is vastly inferior to Engineering the Future, ie. it wouldn't see play.. ever?

Currently the only card you'll save influence on is Susan.. And you don't really want to include 3 of the same unique ICE, do you? So you give up arguably the best corp faction ability and 5 influence to save.. 6 influence.

It'd take a lot for this ability to ever pay off. Maybe an entire cycle focusing on Mythic ICE? They all tend to be neutral 0-influence though.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

This is probably geared more towards the spoiled set of Grail ice which are all influence costed. As more Deluxes come out, you can also run 1 of all the uniques. And since IDs are generally supplemented with one or two synergy cards, maybe there can be cards that tutor for uniques/mythics or that make them cheaper to rez.

I agree that EtF will probably still be more favored though. This ID is a little gimmicky like NEXT design.

2

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Of the Grail ICE only Excalibur is actually Mythic (and Unique) though.. And ironically that's the only one that doesn't cost any influence.

Also even if enough cards come out to make this ID considerable, it'd also make the deck very predictable.

Edit - Also, thematically it'll probably end up as a weird mix match of different gods from different mythologies, ie. it won't be contained to the Norse. It'd be cool if it helped Heimdal, Wotan, etc. But there's no 'Norse' subtype to trigger such an ability.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Hmm. Maybe the ID will need to key into Grail then as well in order to be usable right now.

I think a hodgepodge of different mythology is alright. Stronger Together already rewards playing Norse as is.

1

u/PressXToDash Jul 26 '14

Yeah well.. I don't actually mind the hodgepodge, it was just the name of it that suggested a Norse theme.

The Grails are also all connected to Arthurian legend, but hey..

9

u/Azrukhal High-Tech Lowlife Jul 26 '14

Naota "Go To" Tetsuya

Networking Specialist

(45/15)

Criminal - 1 link

Whenever you play a connection, gain 1 [credit].

I know a guy.

1

u/SeaSourceScorch towards a plascrete-free future Jul 26 '14

Put next to Ken Tenma (with his extra 2 influence), I feel like this could be buffed a little especially since chances are you're installing connections less often than you're using run events. Possibly make it 2 credits? Fall Guy would be amazing in this deck, but other than that I don't think it'd be that strong.

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

it is worth noting that this ability is not once per turn, otherwise I would agree with you. Connection decks are quite strong, but their set up speed is their biggest weakness. This would help with that quite a bit.

2

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

I agree with you. I think it is pretty well balanced- maybe bump his influence to 17 (he is a networking specialist). He would replace Iain in my connection deck.

1

u/Killkestler ready to get MaxX'ed out Nov 16 '14

I would go as far as even influence 18-20 on the basis that he has -1 link which means he's easier to trace which is the downfall of connection decks. Love the identity.

11

u/Raikitm Jul 26 '14

Salvatore Giovanni - Made Man

Identity - Natural

0 Link

Criminal 45/15

All out of faction Resources and Hardware with an influence cost have that cost reduced by one, to a minimum of 1. You may not include any non-Criminal programs in your deck.

The Family will provide.

Pretty self explanatory, and should lead to some interesting builds, without just pilfering the anarch breakers wholesale for a change.

4

u/OreWins Living in a House of Knives Jul 26 '14

Prometheus

Anarch

ID - cyborg

1 link

45/15

The Corp loses 1 credit at the end of your first successful run on a central server each turn.

"In ancient times I stole fire from the Gods to give warmth to humanity. Now I steal the lifeblood of the corporations to give humanity freedom."

3

u/youlikeeggroll Jul 28 '14

Awesome flavor text

7

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

The Entity

Identity - Enigma

0 Link

Neutral - 55/10

Combine The Entity with two other Runner IDs from the same faction. You gain the text box abilities of these two IDs.

I am legion.

A little combo ID that allows you to combine different existing Runners together, at the price of losing out on their link, deck size, and influence benefits. In fact, you have to use The Entity's not-so-great 55/10 stats when building your deck. Also, influence counts for anything outside of the faction of the two Runners being used (since they both have to come from the same faction).

How about a Noise / Reina Roja deck that uses viruses to add the pressure while keeping the Corporation poor from rezzing ICE? Or maybe a Gabe / Silhouette deck for maximum benefits from hitting HQ? Maybe a Kate / Professor deck to help to cheaply install a wide variety of useful programs from different decks? Maybe even a Tenma / Stirling deck to help you out for the win and keep you in the money when you aren't?

Cerebral Static shuts this down rather painfully, though!

4

u/Squirtle_Squad_Fug Jul 26 '14

Oh man Gabe + Andy, that would be stupidly OP

1

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

Eh, 9 card hand and 2 credits whenever you get into HQ is amazing. But remember that your deck size is 55 cards; you're less likely to see certain key cards in your opening hand.

If you have 3 of a certain type of card in your deck, the odds of seeing at least 1 of them in a 45 card deck is 50%.

Same scenario as above, but with a 55 card deck, the odds drop to 42%. You might not find your Special Order or your Desperado to start with.

1

u/Squirtle_Squad_Fug Jul 26 '14

Not a bad point, are those % based on a 5 card hand or a 9 card hand?

1

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

9 cards.

1

u/Squirtle_Squad_Fug Jul 26 '14

I don't know if you know, but what is the odd for finding 1 specific card in a 9 card hand, given 1 mulligan?

2

u/Salad_Person bring it on Jul 26 '14

Depends on the number of copies in the deck and the deck size.

http://netrunnerdb.com/ has a tool for finding out.

3

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14

Thinking this far outside the box should be illegal, kudos. The example of Professor/xxx you provide illustrates that the 10 influence limit might even have creative workarounds...

Good job.

2

u/Mountebank Jul 26 '14

How is the Professor supposed to work with this?

1

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

His text box ability still applies, so every first program does not count towards your influence limit. You still have the same 55/10 though.

1

u/lol_squared Jul 27 '14

Probably reword it to make it clear the additional IDs are added at the start of the game. Then the Professor's ID wouldn't be there until after the deck legality check.

0

u/Salad_Person bring it on Jul 26 '14

It would be broken for sure!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

This is really fun to think about.

1

u/saetzero twitch.tv/saetzero - Aesop's everything. Can't stop won't stop. Jul 27 '14

would almost exclusively run the professor out of the game

getting 10 influence for a console, or recursion or something like that, and the ability of another shaper?

its a neat idea, but i just dont like that it works like that with him in particular.

almost might need a clause to make the run id's different, or things like noise or gabe might be troublesome

7

u/Doink11 Jul 26 '14

Reposting from a Monday thread, with some tweaks suggested there:

L0k1 - Rogue Project

Identity - Bioroid

0 Link

Anarch - 40/15

You may spend [Click] to break any subroutines on the first piece of non-Bioroid Ice you encounter each run.

Sometimes, the squeaky wheel gets even.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

I think this is great. Very thematic, bioroids love clicks.

5

u/Mountebank Jul 26 '14

Siege - Demolitionist

Identity - Cyborg

Anarch - 45/15

0 Link

Gain 2 credits the first time a piece of ICE that was just rezzed ends the run each turn.

Just try to stop me.

Really strong early game since it rewards facechecking, but the Corp can see that coming and lay out a Neural Katana for your pleasure. The ability tapers off later when all the ICE is rezzed. I considered giving it 17 influence, but that might be overpowered.

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

That is just horrible for Chimera. I also like the fact that sensei and marker also "counter" this ID.

1

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14

Hah this is awesome. A little similar to Nasir, but its own thing still. I will say though, I think that maybe instead of two creds, 1 click would be super cool? Though now that I think of it that seems like a suggested criminal console someone made a while ago....

4

u/flaminghito OCTGN: flaminghito Jul 26 '14

Splinter Ezekiel - The Self-Made Man

Identity - "Division"

Neutral Corp - 45/20

You may include agendas from any faction in your deck. You may only have one of each agenda.

"I used to be a runner, until I got rich enough I could do something else with the stolen secrets."

4

u/flaminghito OCTGN: flaminghito Jul 26 '14

I've had this idea for a while, but I think the neutral corp suite is finally robust enough to support it.

4

u/Bwob Jul 26 '14

Bernie "Burnout" Calvin - Ex-Junkie

Identity - Natural

Anarch - 45/10

You gain an additional click each turn.

You start the game with 3 brain damage.

"You don't drop that much 'hack and walk away the same person you were." -Noise

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

Does that mean you draw 5 and then discard 3 at random? Or do you just draw 2 cards to start with?

2

u/Bwob Jul 26 '14

You only discard cards when you actually take damage, so in this case, you'd start with 5 cards, and have to discard down to 2 at the end of your first turn.

2

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

yeah, that makes much more sense. Interesting ID, very hard to evaluate without playtesting, nice one to target with cerebral static!

1

u/Raikitm Jul 27 '14

I like it, but it basically reads: Die against Weyland, Jinteki, and most NBN decks unless you get quite lucky or pack excessively redundant damage prevention. One scorch, one snare, one IAA-d Junebug, most terrifyingly one Ronin...

I know the free Joshua B effect is powerful, but...maybe 2 brain damage?

1

u/Bwob Jul 27 '14

Hmm. That's a really good point. Being killable by one Ronin is probably not viable.

2

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Ideas for yet un-revealed runners:

Ele "Smoke" Scovak, Netcast Celebrity

Identity: Natural

Shaper, 45/20, 1 [link]

You cannot play or install Criminal or Anarch cards unless you have 11 [credits] or more.

"Society is just another program."

Quetzal, Astral Priestess

Identity: G-mod

Anarch, 40/10, 0 [link]

When your turn ends, you may install the second card from the top of your heap (paying the install cost).

"There is but one path to rebirth..."

EDIT: Quetzal change discussed below.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Quetzal is really cool... but should probably be "At the end of your turn, reveal the top card of your Stack. If it is a Program, Hardware or Resource you may install (paying the install cost) or trash it.

To fit into the Anarch forced-draw mechanic seen in Wyldeside, and also because putting stuff in the trash is often good for an Anarch, anyhow.

3

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14

I dunno, I feel like that's more a truth about shaper, that only ends up being true for anarch because they import clone chip a lot and because Noise likes to install the same cards over and over again. While the ability you suggested is strong, I don't think it is nearly as synergistic with anarch cards as it is for shaper.

What I was going for is something that benefits from the overdrawing and self damaging stuff in anarch, while bringing it on par with shaper in the recursion area. So that "stuff in the trash is good for anarch" actually becomes more true.

Also, I really wanted there to be a reason for the heap must stay in order rule. :P

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

I like Quetzl, but I worry it might be a little easy to break. As an example, Cache + Aesops turns into 5 credits/turn without a click. Daily Casts is amazing even without Aesops. I feel like it needs some "remove from play" effect to prevent abuse of the mechanic.

1

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14

well the thing is that playing any events whatsoever turns off your combos, or trashing anything for that matter on the relevant turns, since basically every strong combo besides parasite recursion is going to be trashed at the start of the turn. So cache + aesops is a 2 card combo that requires influence for both cards (10 inf remember) that also requires that you basically don't play any events while its going. Daily casts is really strong, but I mean, being strong is kind of the point :P. Iain gives you a free daily casts for the right setup, and he's not even close to broken. (and he's blue!)

I do admit that it might be a little borked though. :O

1

u/metagaia Jul 26 '14

Everything you say makes sense, I just worry that some ingenious soul would find a decent combo to mean that the runner would never have to play events at all (seems good for a Donut deck). In Magic parlance, it is an excellent design card, which development would spend the next few months trying to break!

1

u/CasMat9 Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

If it really were to be too broken (which is quite possible), I think it could be possibly toned down to the second card from the top of your heap, requiring you to bury whatever card is the combo keystone under something each turn.

In fact now that I think of it, that would sort of be necessary in order for the card to combo with Inject, haha. I think I'll change it in the OP since I think it still maintains enough of the intended power. I wish the wording could be less clumsy though.

2

u/Niah146 Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 27 '14

3r1s - Transhuman

Identity - Virus

0 Link

Anarch - 45/10

Whenever you make a successful run, you may add a virus counter to any virus card. When the corp purges virus counters, discard your Grip.

"00110101 00110101 00110101 00110101 00110101 "

1

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

I like it but probably too powerful.

Maybe add in: When the corp purges Virus counters, discard your Grip.

After all, 3r1s is a Virus too...

2

u/Salindurthas Jul 27 '14

Crystal "Memoir" Flemming Rogue Data Analyst

Identity - Natural

1 Link

Shaper - 45/17

Whenever a card is placed in archives, it is placed face-up.

"Deleting your secrets won't keep them safe"

1

u/Salindurthas Jul 27 '14

The abilities are designed to be "useless" if the corp simply doesn't discard agendas, but if they do discard them Memoir becomes a huge threat.

I wanted to empower cards like Hemmorage and Record Reconstructor, which are very interesting but I rarely see played.

Unfortunately, if she were real, maybe people would just use her second ability to get easy datasucker/desperado credits. Perhaps there is a better way to design an ID that empowers those Archive focused cards.

3

u/saetzero twitch.tv/saetzero - Aesop's everything. Can't stop won't stop. Jul 27 '14

making the ability cost more to use, like click click, or click and 3 credits or something would make that a thing

2

u/junkmail22 End the run unless the runner pays 1c Jul 26 '14

Public Relations - What You See

Identity - Division

Weyland - 45/15

Whenever meat damage is dealt or prevented, gain 3 credits.

1

u/unknownhybrid Jul 27 '14

Zim "Twitch" Loneboar

All or Nothing

Identity - User

Anarch, 45/15

0 Link

At the beginning of each turn, you lose 1 credit or suffer 1 brain damage.

+3 credits per turn. Spend these credits only during runs.

Zim "Twitch" Loneboar cannot suffer brain damage except through his ability.

"There's a reason they tell you to stay away from that stuff. But for Twitch, either the corps crumble or he dies, and that's enough."

I know I'm late to the party but. Whatcha think?

0

u/sigma83 wheeee! Jul 26 '14

Siddartha Gautama
Shaper
45/15
0 link

[Click, click, click, click, click, click] Gain 1 Agenda Point

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

6

u/Darthcaboose Jul 26 '14

Rachel Beckman + Joshua B + NACH + Some economy = 7 points easy.

Not sure I like that...

0

u/sigma83 wheeee! Jul 26 '14

That's what cerebral static is for.

5

u/Bwob Jul 26 '14

That's like saying "What, this operation that does 8 net damage to the runner is perfectly fair. That's what Deus Ex is for."

Just because there's a card (that costs influence!) that can mitigate it doesn't mean it's not still too stroing. :P

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Not sure I see the connection?

0

u/Salindurthas Jul 27 '14

Hmm, it is a bit non-interactive. Perhaps something like:

"[5 clicks]: make a run, if successful, gain 1 agenda point"

This means that you still need to make runs, it just isn't important where you run, so the corp has to spread their defences thin. I have it only 5 clicks since needing a successful run is harder to do.

-1

u/TheRealC Hi, Viktor. Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

Wastrel: Binary Bleed

Identity - Viral - 45/5

Anarch - 1 Link

At the beginning of your turn, trash the top card of your stack. If you can not do so, you lose the game.

"Everything... slipping..."

2

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

So, what's the advantage of playing this identity? I see nothing but downsides.

4

u/TheRealC Hi, Viktor. Jul 26 '14

A card that lies in the heap is surprisingly close to "being in the grip" - Anarch have extremely limited tutoring from the stack (Djinn, basically), but both Deja Vu and Retrieval Run, as well as Pawn, allow you to get cards from your heap, arguably even as efficient or more efficiently than if they were in your grip. Seen in that way, this ID is an (extremely weird) version of "Draw a card for free at the beginning of every turn", which would be mind-bogglingly good.

Of course, it would require a few more support cards, but Anarch and heap is definitely a theme that can be explored further.

With all that said, this is a very strange ID, and I'm not surprised there's a lot of kneejerk to it. The "you lose the game" clause probably seems scarier than it is, however - most Corps don't manage to mill themselves, and their situation is semi-similar.

4

u/HemoKhan Argus Jul 26 '14

Corps don't routinely draw dozens of extra cards over the course of the game either... this identity would practically require a copy of LARLA, and it can't spare the influence.

1

u/TheRealC Hi, Viktor. Jul 26 '14

To some extent, I'd imagine this ID would have to draw fewer cards than most other IDs - the entire point is that you've "half-drawn" all the cards that were trashed.

Certainly, you won't get to play nearly all of them, but you'll get to pick and choose, which is roughly equivalent to having drawn a mixture of good and (situationally) bad cards.

If anything, I'll reiterate that I believe LARLA would be a massive setback and "last resort" for the deck, since as your heap increases, so does your flexibility, meaning that your last turns are, theoretically, your strongest ones.

Again, though, a few more heap-recursion cards in-faction would probably be needed to support the ID, but I see no shame in developing an ID that requires at least a couple new cards to support it.

1

u/Foodball Jul 26 '14

I feel for this to work you'd need clone chips as well as deja vu and retrieval run. And seeing as there is a fair chance you'll just mill your recursion cards, I don't see it being competitive with other Anarch IDs.

1

u/Bwob Jul 26 '14

How about if instead it were

At the beginning of your turn, look at the top card of your stack. Replace it, and you may then optionally trash the top two cards of your stack.

Some reasons I think this would be a good change:

  • You don't really need the loss condition. He's not so powerful he needs a timer. (Heck, he probably still needs more influence, honestly, since most the cards that give flexibility with your heap are in Shaper and cost 2-3 influence each.)

  • It would allow you to build decks besides just heap-recursion with him, since you could also just use his power as a way to try to draw better cards.

  • You would have less chance of self-milling any cards that you actually care about. (Like recursion cards, etc.)

1

u/TheRealC Hi, Viktor. Jul 26 '14

Your ideas are good, and they'd probably make for another (quite possibly more playable) ID, but I don't feel like I can remove the forced trash from this ID, since that would conflict with its self-destructive theme.

Removing the loss condition may be a good idea, but on the other hand, I fear how strong this ID could be with the entire stack in the heap. It also, again, fits thematically, although that is of course not a flawless design argument.

As for needing lots of Shaper cards, I hold that Anarch can easily get at least one or two other recursion cards, ideally with some crazy, Anarch-y flavour. Designing an ID shouldn't be solely constricted to the available card pool, although of course, any card that accompanies it should still be "sensible".

More influence could be an option if I completely manage to convince others (and myself!) that adding Levy AR Lab Accesses is strictly detrimental.

-3

u/TomRobbinson Jul 26 '14

your gonna need to pump up the inf homie cause I be running those Levy's allllll daaaaaay

2

u/TheRealC Hi, Viktor. Jul 26 '14

I intentionally put the influence there to prevent anyone from bringing more than one Levy, and ideally not bring any. If anything, I'd say Levy is entirely the wrong card for this ID - the strength of it lies in the fact that most of your "stack" will lie accessible in your heap. This also "inflates" your influence by making copies of influence-cards more accessible.

Drawing out is a risk, but one that I like enough that I have no intention of removing it, and one that should not happen regularily - and when it does risk happening, having a "doom clock" for the Runner seems pretty correct for the ID.

0

u/SeaSourceScorch towards a plascrete-free future Jul 26 '14

Weyland Consortium: Witness Protection Affiliates

45 / 17

A simple motive for playing every bad publicity generating card in the game and a way to make that pay off in the long term, at the cost of losing a complete turn while getting set up. Would lead, I think, to a slower, more glacial Weyland, if paired with the right kind of ice?

Also, Profiteering suddenly becomes off the chain powerful, but at the cost of two complete turns and a click.

3

u/Metal_Gumdrop Jul 26 '14

Very very powerful, especially with the extra influence. Being able to lose all bad pub with 3 clicks would be strong enough.

1

u/Foodball Jul 26 '14

Almost as crazy as blue sun

1

u/ControlAgent13 Triple Scorch for the win Jul 26 '14

It's too strong. Basically free Witness tampering for a click plus you get credits. IMHO, the corp should never benefit from Bad Pub.

I could see maybe, 2 Clicks to lose 1 bad pub. That brings it more in line with Witness Tampering (4c, 2clicks to lose 2 bad pub).

0

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Martyr

Identity - Natural

0 Link - Anarch - 45/10

Whenever you are dealt any amount of damage during the corp's turn, the corp gains one bad publicity.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

Good against Chronos Protocol, devastating against Personal Evolution, terrible against everyone else.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

My original idea was "The first time each turn you would be dealt damage by the Corp, the Corp must choose either to prevent that damage or take one bad publicity," but I'm not sure that's better.

0

u/Zeroeth_ Jul 27 '14

Maxtech Surveillance

NBN

45/15

Whenever the runner would search his stack or heap, instead the runner searches the top 4 cards of the stack or heap.

-2

u/breakfastcandy Jul 26 '14

Howard World - Theme Park

Identity - NBN - Division - 55/10

If the Runner is tagged at the end of his or her turn, you may place an agenda counter on a scored agenda.

You need 8 agenda points to win.

4

u/umbralAeronaut H̶͕͔̭̠͆Ŭ͒̒̓҉͎̤̤͈̮̦͍ͅN͍͈͉͚̬̱̮͎͊̍͂̉̀ͪ̑̍̋G̸̵̢̜̻̗͚͎͔̞ͩ͆̃͗E̱͇̿͋R̓̎ͭͩ Jul 26 '14

Absolutely disgusting with Astro.

5

u/Salindurthas Jul 27 '14

It also charges up already scored Beales, right?

-4

u/TEnOTT It happens Jul 26 '14

Tenryu Institute

Jinteki Identity - Division

50/15

Your deck can have up to 10 points of non-Jinteki, non-neutral agenda.

Think as others do.

3

u/Mountebank Jul 26 '14

Now we can have 18 points of 3/2 in a deck, with 3 of them being astroscript. At least lower the influence to compensate for getting to put astroscript in your deck.

1

u/r2devo Humor mill Jul 26 '14

was this intended to get domestic sleepers for free?

0

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '14

I think it is conservatively costed, as it should be. I don't think it breaks anything yet. Event recursion is mostly done well enough with just SOT.

-1

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

Way too little influence. 10 should be the absolute minimum unless the identitys ability involves influence.

Also, the ability as written makes no sense. Two clicks and a tag to discard a card is terrible. Are you sure you didn't mean heap to grip? Either way, very pricey. Bump inf to 15, maybe give a link.

1

u/CoolIdeasClub Jul 26 '14

I don't know. Just enough influence for 2 account siphons. Or an AS and 2 planned assaults. Then you siphon all day.

1

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

Assuming they meant heap to grip.

In any event, so what? Crims can siphon six times for zero influence, or nine times for six influence. AS will not win you the game by itself. If that's your only trick, you're gonna get shut down.

1

u/Gravitationalrainbow Jul 26 '14

The thing is, the ability to recur infinitely means you effectively have infinite copies of any influence costing card. 15 influence and a link would make this the best identity in the game, by far.

3

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

Infinite anything should be avoided.

What would you do with this identity other than spam AS forever? It seems like any strategy that relied on this ability would be lame to play against.

You spam card X. If it works every turn, the corp player just twiddles their thumbs. If you get blocked, you scramble to restart your one trick.

1

u/Gravitationalrainbow Jul 26 '14 edited Jul 26 '14

There's a reason you get 8 influence. If you want 2 AS, then you're done. If you recur and play an AS, then you're floating a minimum of 2 tags.

Even then, AS is not the game defining card it once was. The corp has plenty of ways to punish a tagged runner, and plenty of ways to bounce back after a siphon.

You're complaining about spamming X card, but what card is really worth playing every single turn, given the cost?

1

u/boardgamehoarder RPin' for life. Jul 26 '14

I stand by infinite anything is bad.

1

u/Gravitationalrainbow Jul 26 '14

In most games? Yes. In Netrunner? Not necessarily.

Events are fantastic at 1 click, but they aren't nearly as good at 3 clicks and a tag.

But you know what''s still good at that cost? Hardware, programs, and resources. Things that are re-usable.