Several years ago in July of 2003, I decided that I wanted to create a new trading card game for the MegaMan Battle Network series of games also know as the RockMan.EXE series of games in Japan. The existing TCG for the series - the "Megaman NT Warrior Trading Card Game" by Decipher - was visually attractive in its design but lacked quit a few of the concepts and ideas that made the Battle Network games fun to play in the first place. I decided to create a TCG more closely tied to the battle-style employed in the games.
Over the course of about 3 months, I had created over 100 cards and interest in the fan-game had piqued. One member of the community offered to code an online-version of the game to allow people to play without needing to actually print off the cards. To make a long story short, while I took him up on the offer immediately we eventually got a cease & desist notice from Capcom (supposedly) and were forced to close shop, so-to-speak.
Now, years later, the game may not be in "production" anymore but I still think it deserves to be posted for the world to see. This page contains all the cards for viewing in full size as well as a breakdown of the various rules that were conceived during development. I hope you enjoy reading about the game and viewing the cards as much as I enjoyed making them - who knows, maybe they'll spark some inspiration to make your own card game or something.
The rules of play are described in detail in the next few paragraphs, but if you'd rather jump to view the cards themselves feel free to use any of the anchor links below.
(!) Please note that this game was conceived years ago and never totally finished. Some of the rules may not be completely ironed out (or make total sense) and it's also possible that some of the cards are inconsistent with the rules. These cards are in their unfinished state and are mostly for amusement - in practice they probably wouldn't be very fun to play with.
You see the mat up there? That's the play-mat for the entire game. Each space has its own specific purpose and I'll explain each of them below as best I can.
The Green Outline Spaces:
The Green Outlined Spaces are where each player places their currently active Battle Chip card for the other player to see. After a Battle Chip card has been used up, or the turn ends, that Battle Chip card is sent to the bottom of the owner's deck.
The Yellow Outline Spaces:
The Yellow Outlined Spaces are where you place Navi Customizer cards. You can have no more then three Navi Customizer cards in the Navi Customizer at a time. Cards in the Navi Customizer stay there until they are replaced by another card.
The Blue Outline Spaces:
The Blue Outlined Spaces are where your deck is placed. A player shuffles his or her deck before play starts and cannot ever look at what order the cards are in. At the start of each player's turn, he or she puts all cards in their hand at the bottom of their deck and draws a new hand of five cards.
The Purple Outline Spaces:
The Purple Outlined Spaces are where you set aside your Program Advance cards. These cards are set face-up and can be looked at whenever either player wants. If at any time during your turn, you have the required Battle Chip cards to perform a Program Advance, place the cards from your hand specified on the Program Advance card in the bottom of your deck. If you do not have the required cards in your hand, you cannot perform the Program Advance. After activating a Program Advance, place it in your active chip space (the one outlined in green) and treat it as though it were a Battle Chip card. At the end of your turn, place the Program Advance card back in the pile.
The Grey Outline Spaces:
The Purple Outlined Spaces are where you set aside your Program Advance cards. These cards are set face-up and can be looked at whenever either player wants. If at any time during your turn, you have the required Battle Chip cards to perform a Program Advance, place the cards from your hand specified on the Program Advance card in the bottom of your deck. If you do not have the required cards in your hand, you cannot perform the Program Advance. After activating a Program Advance, place it in your active chip space (the one outlined in green) and treat it as though it were a Battle Chip card. At the end of your turn, place the Program Advance card back in the pile.
The Custom Gauge:
At the beginning of each turn, a player rolls the die (dice) to decide how much MP that player has for that turn, therefore guaranteeing that a player will never have less then 1 MP or more then 6 MP to work with on that turn. Whenever your Navi uses an attack, moves, or uses a chip (also summoning viruses and various other things require MP), you must pay a specified amount of MP. When your MP run out, it is the end of your turn. After the use of MP, whether it be for an attack, move, or whatnot, you place one MP Marker inside the Custom Gauge for every MP you use (not exceeding the allowed MP for that turn). The Custom Gauge has 18 spaces, and when those spaces are completely filled, you must automatically activate the Custom Gauge. By doing this you place all cards in your hand at the bottom of your deck and draw a new hand of five cards. This is handy when you run out of Battle Chips.
The Navi Cards
Blue in colour, these are the little guys that fight for you in this TCG simulated Net Battle! The characters on the cards are called Net Navis and they each have their own special power to fight with! You can use this attack without ever having to draw a card, but sometimes a Navi's special attack isn't enough and they need help. That is where you come in. As a Navi operator, it is your job so send your Navi special fighting programs called Battle Chips that let your Navi use strong attacks. Your Navi can move all over the field on your colour panels for only 1 MP per move, but be careful, as where your position is determines what kind of attacks you can use effectively and what kind of attacks can be used on you! One thing to take note of is your Navi's Type, as it determines how much damage attacks will do to you. For example, Aqua Navis are weak to Elec attacks, so if BubbleMan.exe (above) was hit by a Zap Ring 1 (Elec Attack that does 20 damage), BubbleMan.exe would take 40 damage instead of 20! Use these weaknesses to your advantage and try to use your opponent's weakness. The weaknesses are Heat is strong against Wood, Wood is strong against Elec, Elec is strong against Aqua, and Aqua is strong against Heat. Neutral is not strong against anything nor does it have a weakness.
The Battle Chips
Green in colour, these Battle Chips contain fighting programs for your Navi to use. Each Battle Chip is different and has a different use. Some Battle Chips have an element and thus can be used to target your opponent's weakness. A 'Heat Shot' Battle Chip (50 Heat damage) would do 100 damage to a Wood Navi or virus if it connects, so use your ships wisely. Also take note that some chips can only hit a certain number of panels. 'Sword' here (right) can do a whopping 80 Neutral element damage for only 1 MP! The catch is that sword can only hit the panel directly in front of the user as it isn't very long. Other Chips like 'Cannon' can do smaller amount of damage (40 Neutral) but can travel farther (travels until it hits something). The trick is to choose your chips according to where you are and use them with caution.
The Navi Customizers
Red in appearance, Navi Customizer cards allow you to modify your Navi to become stronger. You place a Navi Customizer card in the Navi Customizer, respectively, to use it. The Navi Customizer can only hold a total of three cards in it so choose your cards well. Some cards will allow your Navi to do 20 more damage with any attack they do while others allow your Navi to move quickly from one panel to the next by paying only 1 MP and moving 2 spaces! There are also Style Change cards. These cards change what element your Navi is (Aqua, Heat, etc.) as well as how they fight! There are Style Change1 cards as well as Style Change2 cards and in order for either to work, one of each has to be in the Navi Customizer at the same time. A Style Change1 card like 'Heat Element' can make your Navi a Heat element and allow it to use 'Flame Thrower' as its default attack, where Style Change2 card 'Guts Style' can make your Navi's attacks do 2o more damage all the time, but you must pay 2 MP to move from one space to another. Mix and match to form new Style Changes like 'Heat Guts', 'Elec Team' and 'Wood Shield'! Experiment with what works best for you!
The Virus Bombs
Yellow in appearance, Virus Bomb cards allow you to call upon viruses to actually help you defeat your opponent! If you have a Virus Bomb in your hand, you may place it anywhere on your side of the field by paying the Summoning cost listed on the card in MP. After you have placed the card down on your side of the field, you can then control both your Navi and the Virus! You treat the virus as though it was another Navi and it too pays MP to attack and to move from space to space. A Virus has hit points just like a Navi, but viruses have way lower HP then that of Navis. When a virus is deleted (by getting damage equal to or greater then their HP), your Navi receives no damage to their HP, instead the Virus Bomb card is placed at the bottom of your deck.
The Program Advances
Purple in colour, these nifty little cards can turn seemingly powerless cards into extremely power cards. Program Advance cards are not placed in your deck but are instead placed aside on the Program Advance Space on the Battle Field. Each Program Advance card has the names of three chips underneath the Program Advance's name, these are the Battle Chips needed to activate that Program Advance. If at any time during your turn, you have the needed Battle Chips to perform a Program Advance in your hand, you may discard all of the Battle Chips needed and place them at the bottom of your deck. After you have done that, place the Program Advance in the Active Chip space and treat it as though it were in fact a battle chip. Program Advances, also known as PA's, can be very strong, and should always be considered when facing tough opponents.
While I don't think anyone would actually want to play these in their current state, I'm totally okay with it if you do. You'll have to download and cards yourself, but what you do with them and how you play is totally up to you. All I ask is that you don't post anywhere else on the web without permission and that you do not try to claim them as your own or otherwise steal credit.
You can download all the card images, card backing, and card mat together in either a ZIP Archive or RAR Archive format or download them individually in the gallery below.
In closing, I hope you found the card game interesting because I had a blast making it. :)
