by Josh Komon

Created on: December 21, 2008

Collectible card games are popular amongst America's youth. A less popular, now virtually defunct, yet amazing game, was Blood Wars. Based on Dungeons and Dragons' campaign setting, Planescape, Blood Wars pitted players against each other in the eternal struggle for dominance of the multi-verse. The actual Blood Wars existed between two factions of evil, Devils and Demons. The game, however, allowed players to control beings of good or evil, lawful or chaotic, and all manner of neutrality.

The purpose of the game was to capture battlefields. Battlefields had point values, and sometimes additional benefits. (More on that later.) The first player to a predetermined number of points wins the game. Players could capture battlefield through combat or intrigue. (Or a very occasional third underhand method involving magic.) Regardless of the manner in which players struggled for land, the play always revolved around Warlords. These Warlord cards were the most enjoyable to look at, think about, play, etc. Each Warlord had one or more powers which players could take advantage of to attain battlefields. Underneath the Warlords (literally and figuratively) were the various minions and items. These could be used to do the fighting or assist the Warlord in Intrigue.

Combat for land was the most common method used to gain battlefields in multiplayer games. On a player's turn, they could declare that they were fighting for a land with a given Warlord and his/her minions. Another player could choose to defend that land. If no one did, then the land was won. If not, a battle ensued, and if the aggressor won, he or she would claim the battlefield. Battles generally worked by having players alternate turns using spells, items, and powers. After all were played, remaining minions would have their scores added up. If theaggressor'sscore was higher by more than the point value of the battlefield, then said battlefield was won.

Intrigue was simpler, and more common in one-on-one games. If a Warlord uses intrigue to gain control of a battlefield, other players could intrigue for or against that Warlord. The benefits of helping another player gain land were usually minimal, and consequently, if there are three or more players, defenders would gang up on the player trying to take the land.

The last piece of the game, and the one that was the most cut-throat and fun, was the use of magic. These support cards could generally be used at any part of the game, and could totally change the way the game was played. A common example of play between me and my friends would sound something like this: "And I'll use Assassination plot to take out three of your warlords." "OK, except that I'll use spell mirror, so actually, it's YOU who loses three Warlords." "Man, that sucks. Too bad I have another spell mirror, and you WILL be losing those three Warlords." "Fine, I'll use Battle-Scarred Plains. You can lose three of your battlefields." "Guess what. I have ANOTHER spell mirror..."

Blood Wars was fun to play, when the purpose was to fight for lands at a faster rate than your opponents. It became more fun when our decks got powerful enough to focus on destroying your opponents to the point that they could defend anything, and then just take the land.

It is too bad that this game never really caught on. I always found it to be more enjoyable than Magic. I preferred the style of the artwork. With the new rules for Dungeons and Dragons, perhaps there will also be a new manifestation of the Blood Wars Card Game.

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