Spellfire

'' Spellfire is also the name of a magical power in the Forgotten Realms.

Spellfire is a collectible card game created by TSR and based on their popular Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. The game first appeared in 1994, shortly after the introduction of . It has since been discontinued, yet as of 2004, still enjoys popularity among a loyal fan base.

History

Immediately after the initial successful launch of Wizards of the Coast's TSR decided to enter the fledgeling CCG market with their take on a fantasy-themed card game. The core creation of Spellfire's gameplay was completed by James Ward, VP of creative design for TSR at the time, and he was even immortalized on several Spellfire cards himself. Spellfire was widely anticipated by Dungeons & Dragons fans as it used characters, location, magic items, artifacts, monsters, events, and spells from the intellectual properties of TSR's gaming worlds. However, immediately after its release several factors harmed its initial growth and perceived popularity among fans and potential fans. The main concern was TSR's decision to re-use full pieces or portions of TSR's wonderful commissioned fantasy art on Spellfire cards instead of all new art. While some players explained that better quality art, even IF recycled, was preferential to the much of the amateur art found in Magic: The Gathering's initial set, others were turned off by this decision. Another source of potential debate was Spellfire's use of completely different game mechanics. Many fans who initially purchased Spellfire had expected a similar style of gameplay to that of Magic: The Gathering and when Spellfire provided a different set of rules and style of play, they too rejected the game. This led to the early formation of Spellfire's fundamental schism: one set of CCG players hated the game as much for some of TSR's design decisions as for their own (perhaps) unrealistic expectations. Regardless, Spellfire's fan base initially was quite large. Though not many may recall this, Wizards of the Coast initially threatened TSR with a lawsuit upon the initial release of Spellfire due to its tagline, which read, "Spellfire: Master the Magic". Wizards of the Coast, which at the time was beginning to take itself very seriously in the industry, decided that this affront should not be tolerated and threatened TSR with a lawsuit. Rather than get in a messy legal battle, TSR removed the offending moniker on later releases.

Initially, the only products available were the 110-card starter packs (which drew from a selection of 400 cards), and 15-card booster packs which drew from essentially the same cards as the starter packs, although they contained more of the rare cards, and in addition some very rare, or "chase", cards.

The second edition starter pack fixed some misprints and replaced about 20 cards with chase cards which were basically photos of various fantasy-related artifacts or people in costumes. Other than the chase cards the rest of the second-edition set was exactly the same as the first edition. Most players got more out of the Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Forgotten Realms booster packs.

The third edition starter made some significant changes to many of the cards, but kept most of the same names and artwork. The Artifacts, Powers, Underdark, Runes & Ruins, and Birthright boosters added many new dimensions to the game.

By the time the fourth edition starter pack made its debut, the game's popularity was reaching its zenith. Many Spellfire players called this period of high quality releases 'Spellfire's Golden Age'. At this time, the future of TSR was uncertain, however, which began to lead to a decline in the player base. Three more boosters, Draconomicon, Nightstalkers, and Dungeons, were released. None of these sold terribly well, and when it became clear that Wizards of the Coast was buying TSR, Spellfire's doom was sealed.

Currently, a fan appointed Spellfire Council is keeping the game active by producing unofficial boosters available online. Some of these are deemed legal for tournament play. These so-called sticker boosters are to be printed on sticker paper and attached to the front of normal extra cards that a player may have.

Spellfire still maintains a very dedicated fanbase of worldwide players who keep their favorite game alive through online interaction via both an email list-server AND a shareware program entitled, "CrossFire", which was released several years ago and primarily allows Spellfire players to battle each other online. Though it had a rocky start, Spellfire is considered by many to be a success story, nonetheless, as it was released in six different languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and French) and five different editions, as well as having eleven expansion or "booster sets".

Gameplay

The object of Spellfire is to put 6 realm cards into play. Only one realm can be played per player per turn, and it is common for a player's opponents to attack his realms or destroy them by other means.

Once a player has played at least one realm, the player may play champions, magic items, artifacts, and allies into his "pool". Champions are probably the most important cards in the game as they are used to attack and defend realms. The types of champions in the original game were heroes, monsters, clerics, and wizards; later, psionicists, regents, and thieves were added.

External links

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