I have a few idea, atleast on the color schemes:

White - Sounds good nothing to add.

Blue - While primarily water, it also focuses on wind and flying quite a bit too. So while the watery aspect will be diminished the air aspect could be heightened since deserts sure have plenty of that. Also, some form of oasis (oases?) could be used to bolster blue somewhat.

Green - In addition to those good ideas, green creatures could be fewer in number but have higher toughness than normal to represted the tenacity of the few natural creatures and plants that exist in the desert. The whole cycle of life deal could come into play: where as black uses decay for nasty ends, green would use what little resources it has and reuse them to further growth, maybe something like turning a dead creature into a land or something.
They might have changed this recently, but I do recall seeing a lot of 'sand storm' like cards with green, so there is always the brutal and natural destructive forces to play with.

Black - Nothing to add, it sounds good.

Red - I'll go out on a limb and say, maybe don't weaken red. Deserts are their turf, it does its best work in that sort of environ. Just like Torment was buff for black and Judgement was for white/green, let Red have its day in the sun. (yes, horrible pun I know)

Blue/Red - Not sure myself about this one, but for some reason I think of Genies and Djinns taking advantage of this color combo. Some sort of trickery, but with a nasty end to it.

Black/Green - I see some sort of desert worshipping cult, very anti-creature and pro decay/power. The nasty, really poisonous creatures could reside here too.

Red/White - Worshipers of a Sun God perhaps? Or just the Sun itself, looking to make sure the brutality of the desert is always present and upheld, and to see to it that the laws of survival of the fittest remain intact.

Green/Blue - No big ideas for this one, but land regrowth sounds good. Maybe to take advantage of the green = life and blue = tricky, there could be parasite like creatures that draw power from other creatures, like a reverse Licid or something.

White/Black - Yup, seeing to it that the deserts reach onward and outward. Sounds good.

Thats all I can think of right now, I'll be back if I have any other ideas, heh.

Blue - Excellent point. Forgot about the air aspect. How silly of me.

Green - Good ideas, but as far as sandstorm effects, I don't think so (not in my set anyway). I believe damage relating to the desert will go red. Red does damage traditionally (yes, I know there are exceptions), but especially damage using the earth and those things related to it are red.

Red - I think it needs weakened, because as I see it, this isn't red's environ. Sure, there can be big hills, but deserts simply lack the chaotic mountainy goodness that red is accustomed to. But what part of it to weaken? And what is it's full philosophy on deserts? I mean, deserts can't be both orderly and so loved by white, and chaotic, and so loved by red. But red could appreciate another aspect while hating the order. Your red/white idea helps me to think though... While red would hate the order, it would love the brutality of it all. But is this really in flavor for red, or is it just me stereotyping red? I've been reading those color philosophy articles too much... Anyway, still not sure what aspect to weaken. I could say 'no chaotic effects', but that's already not so common. That seems like too much of a cop-out to me.

Blue/Red - Djinns are definetly in, but I seen them as blue/black. Djinns are powerful with the nasty end, but the end isn't through chaos, it's that the Djinn is plotting against you. That is definetly blue/black.

Black/Green - Good idea.

Red/White - Nice.

White/Black - I like the idea of expanding the deserts too, but what bothers me is the flavor of it. Are these effects really in flavor for these colors? I certainly could not do it through land destruction or land searching. But what about that "Humble" idea? Or is that too blue?

Green - True enough. Im pretty sure the 'desert twister' aspect of green was rotated into red not too long ago anyway. I forget what the article was called, but it was a year or so ago and it went over their restructuring of the abilities of the color wheel.

Red - Thematically, perhaps red could have very low toughness in comparison to other creatures in the set. Also, the red theme of temporarily taking control of creatures or things could be taken away; red in this case doesnt want your stuff, it just wants it scoured to pieces. As for the stereotyping, like blue being more flying that water in this case, red in this set could just be outrageously brutal as opposed to the other usual red-like themes. Since my mind seems to be on a roll right now, perhaps specifically targeted damage should be rare, the desert doesnt differentiate between friend and foe.

Blue/Red - Mayhap this color could be a variety of elementals. The Izzet kind of form a basis for that theme in blue/red so it might be worth continuing. Barring that, perhaps they could be Efreets, which are traditional enemies of the Djinn and also thematically more recklessly destructive.

White/Black - I think forced conformity (or else) is very white/black and that some sort of forcing Deserts or Desert based effects on people who would rather not have them fits. As for Humble-like ability, sounds good to me, not too blue in my opinion.

Green - I may have to see if I can find that article, for future reference. Most likely a MaRo article.

Red - Red already is supposedly known for lower toughness, a reflection of it's passion for action. Non-targeted damage is a fine idea. It's already giving me ideas. And of course, the brutality I suppose. I'll have to reflect that in cards somehow.

Blue/Red - Perhaps. Not fond of it, but if I can find nothing else...

White/Black - When you put it like that, it is very white/black.

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So then, current color personalities are as follows:

White - Likes the order of the deserts. Has adapted to the harsh environment, but does not embrace it. Strengths - Adapted to deserts, show in Desertwalk and other forms. Lends well to weenies. Weaknesses - Healing is weakened.

Blue - Despises deserts, due to lack of water, and lack of thought as opposed to survival instinct in deserts. Strengths - Air mechanics, tap and untaps. Weaknesses - Water effects, knowledge effects, such as drawing.

Green - Hates deserts due to disruption of nature. Also hardened to cope. Strengths - Land control, willingness to destroy to return to nature, tough creatures, will get poison. Weaknesses - Less enhanced mana generation. Might also have spells that require organic sacrifice to get land.

Black - Likes decay, hates lack of undead material to work with. Loves the death abounding. Strengths - Decay effects (will include discard), will get poison. Weaknesses - Undead (includes necro effects). Thinking of making a good skeleton though, since it would be generated by decay.

Red - Hates the orderliness, loves the brutality. Strengths - More damage flying around. Weaknesses - No steal effects, little targeted direct damage.

White/Black - Forcing desert conformity.

Blue/Red - Maybe elementals and efreets. Another idea: erosion. Red is LD, and blue is the color of water, which in reality leads directly to erosion. Maybe red, when mixed with blue, could ramp up LD? But is that gonna be too hard to play against?

Black/Green - Anti-creature, pro-decay.

Red/White - Brutality upheld, but could be skirting too close to survival of the fittest (green).

Green/Blue - Desert hate in favor of other land types.

Keywords - Affinity, Bushido, Aversion, Poison, Desertwalk, and an as of yet undesigned word for use on siege weapons.

If you would like, I have a few suggestions for lands.

Flatland
Land - Desert Plains

Tranquil Oasis
Land - Desert Island

Tar Pits
Land - Desert Swamp

Sand Dune
Land - Desert Mountain

Cactus Patch
Land - Desert Forest

I've thought about these, actually. Although I didn't name them. I'm trying to remember my reasoning, but I was undecided if I wanted to do this and give them the actual big five land types or not. I know that I simply cannot resist, there will be a "Basic Land - Desert" that will tap to generate one colorless mana. And I'd previously had a land with oasis in the name that could generate any color of mana with a small investment of colorless mana. I dunno. I've got some decisions to make about these. At any rate, I am very likely to use the names. I seem to have a lot of trouble naming lands. Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on the color philosophies?

Why not "Desert Land (- subtype)"? It sounds like a supertype to me...

I really like the color philosophies you've established, but as far as abilities go, I think white should get a couple mass damage prevention abilities to simulate sandstorms, and green and black each get a couple "basilisk" abilities.

FezHead - Thank you for the suggestions. After I'm finished relaxing (today was summer finals day for me), I'll look into those.

Zoidberg - As for why it's not a supertype, I suppose it could be. But the entire point of that specific land (Basic Land - Desert) was that back in Invasion block, I had a thing for Domain. And I remember them talking about almost printing "Barry's Land" back in an old Arcana, a sixth basic land, just for Domain. So now, from nostalgia, I must print a basic land that is a desert. Can't resist. Also, I like the idea of being able to put as many of it as you want in your deck, as long as you're willing to put up with it being worse than other basic lands. I suppose I could make it "Basic Desert Land", and maybe even slap on the big 5 land types, but I dunno. That makes me feel like a cheap Coldsnap knock-off.

Zoidberg: The original Desert has already been errata'd to have the land type "Desert", so making it a supertype is pretty much impossible.

Also a very valid point. And one I'm ashamed to have not thought of.

I didn't know (forget) about that Desert card.

That desert card is the inspiration for all of this, actually. People think snow and poison were done poorly when they were made, but deserts had it far worse. Way back in Arabian Nights, there was one desert card made (Desert), and two cards that interacted with it (Camel and Desert Nomads). And that was it.

So I'm going to do Deserts, and try to really make them matter.

Hello Pichoro!

As this could turn into something like Arabian Nights 2, I thought, I'd make a fitting Set-Symbol
First, of course, I wanted to make a desert, but this did not turn out to be very nice... maybe I'll try again later on.

Maybe what I did still is somewhat in flavor - I hope, you like it:

www.team-efo.de/rpg/Magic/MareHarenum_2.mse-symbol

Richard

Well, I intend to try to avoid the whole Arabian flavor, and as speculated earlier, most of the art I've piled up is Japanese or Mongol. I don't know why there seem to be so many samurais running around in deserts when to the best of my knowledge Japan features no deserts... But there are... Anyway the symbol still got my interest. I may use it. I've actually already made a symbol, but it's nothing to be proud of. Just a saguaro cactus. I thought about a pyramid, but that seems too egyptian. The building is nice, and detailed.

Okay. Then not Arabian - maybe I would call it different, then
Hehe, maybe "Sando no Watatsumi"...

Oh, and by the way, there actually is a small desert in Japan: Tottori Sakyuu, if I recall correctly. But it is _really_ small - probably most Artists thought of Samurai as something Chinese?

I will see what I can do that's Japanese-looking.

lol... Well, actually, I chose Mare Harenum because it's not connected to any of the languages (Arabian, Japanese, Mongolian...). It's Latin, and translates to "Sea of Sands". As for why I have samurai in deserts... If I had to guess it's because the art I, erm, 'hit upon'? It was most likely made for a specific game or something in the past. I'm not sure, I know it's not Magic, but could be Magic, and that's good enough for me. lol

If you can do something cool and Japanese looking, cool. If not, don't worry about it. Life'll go on.

Edit: I've mentioned previously that Bushido will be present, (Samurais), but I also have Mongols... So now I'm thinking of adding Rampage as well. Anyone have thoughts on this?

In all honesty, Rampage is very similar to Bushido, so you may not want to put both in.

That's how I was thinking at first too, but now I'm really liking the difference in the two. Bushido is so level-headed, the way it works when attacking or blocking, but only grants it's bonus once. But it just doesn't suit Mongols like it does Samurai. But Rampage, there's a berserker mechanic. Only works when attacking, grants it's ability for every blocking creature. That's a real heat of battle type mechanic there. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Sure, I know it's Latin - and the Romans were in this Arabian region for quite some time. Therefore my association. This japanese title is just the (hopefully not totally broken) translation

Personally, I am under the impression of Rampage doing exactly nothing... at least most of the time.

Could these images originate from Legend of the Five Rings? At least for the Kitsune-Set, I took some art from there.

Rampage is actually nearer of Elvish Berserker.

Bushido crits only gains the bonus one time if blocked (or blocking! Another difference!).

Yeah, Elvish Berserker pretty well has rampage 1. So is it a general consensus that including Rampage along with Bushido to show differences in creature attitudes is a bad idea? I mean, I may still disagree, but I am posting all this stuff to get thoughts and feelings on things before I start the real heavy set design.

Well, there's an interesting conflict between Bushido and Rampage. When blocking, only Bushido works, and when blocking, Bushido works on the first creature, while Rampage works on the rest.

I say that if you include Rampage, you must have a creature with both.

I had thought to myself that they would strictly be on different creatures. But perhaps one won't hurt.

I've posted my set file at long last, as well as a number of sample cards. Included among them is a non-creature token that I realized looked like crap after I uploaded it. Whatever, I'll fix it later.

I'm gonna try to move this project along; I've been distracted for a long time by template creation.

overall nice...

but didnt we said we will co-op on making a full block? (as i see we are not working as team right now)

well i will make my godam block alone...

very good cards...

Actually, I got the impression you hadn't really wanted to work on a set. Anyway, Mare Harenum is one of my custom sets that has existed for quite sometime, and I'm trying to revive it and maybe finish it. I think we should talk about this team thing though. Do you use any instant messenger services? I regularly use yahoo and MSN. I could share my contact info if you're interested.

My first custom set, The Taint: http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/node/183.

My second custom set, Mare Harenum: http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/node/303

Hey! I don't see any text and cost of Tatsu and Suzaku! What is the text?

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Humans are interesting.

Well, first of all, let me say this: I didn't read everyone else's posts. That being said, I may very well repeat what someone else has already covered. Apologies in advance.

Set Overall
Seems very anti-Ice Age overall, but a nice theme and nice setting. I like the name, it's very original. I think one thing to take to heart is that in Ice Age, we saw people, creatures, and things that were exposed to cold and that type of environment all their life. They know of nothing else, ergo, they don't hate the environment they live in (as some of your colors do), they just simply adapt.

Blue
Blue isn't necessarily "all-about" water. Dehydration, for example. Blue is about provoking thought, blue is about technological advance, blue is Nature over Nurture, blue is about control. Rarely is blue about water. Weakening a color for a whole set usually doesn't work. I'd consider blue Desert the opposite of red Ice Age. In Ice Age, we saw red things that work in their environment to produce red effects. R&D didn't weaken red in Ice Age because it couldn't make a Fireball.

Green
Although, while Green is about Life, green is also about Nature and the natural aspect of the desert. Besides, if the set's based in a desert, it'd be safe to assume the desert is populated. Green would certainly be very difficult.

Set Icon
The cactus looks kind of tacky. What about some sort of way to make desert dunes?

Sorry if this sounded like a rant, I do like it honestly. Just constructive criticism.

First, Ryugami. While I appreciate the attention to my set, it has been inactive for over a month. Once that happens, posting in it by anyone other than me (because its my thread, not because I'm, mod) is necroing. This is to let you know its necroing; don't so in the future.

Tatsu and Suzaku have never received rules text. The entire set is being designed top-down (meaning, art first). But my art folder is currently being rearranged, so I'm unable to work on this.

mtgfan -

What does "anti-Ice Age" mean? All I'm doing is taking a very poorly done idea from the past, and making it better. My idea for this, though, was that the deserts aren't the natural environment; they're spreading and taking over the plane. So, the people haven't had it all their life, they've had their original environments.

As for blue, I'm not weaking "blue", I'm weakening certain apsects of blue, as I am with all the colors. And as for the rant about thought and technology, that's hit upon in the discussion. The brutal environment of the desert doesn't allow much as far as stopping to think and study, or to build a machine. You have to think faster and more instinctively.

Yes, the cactus is tacky, but I also made it in what I think of as my "early stage". The stage where I made Taint and made so many mistakes, the stage where I made my first draft of the modern token template, and really sucked it up, and the stage of my use on these forums before I was mod, let alone before I had access to the source. Honestly, since the set has been on standstill, I've not attempted a new symbol. I will at some point. I've become a better template maker, card designer, and even better at using the set symbol maker. I wish I could show a symbol I made two days ago; but I intend to use it later.

Oh, I getcha now. It's just becoming more and more vast. Still, I don't think environment-haters are necessary entire-color perspectives. And by "anti-Ice Age" I meant that Ice Age dealt with the exploration of a Magic Set in frigid cold. Mare Harenum deals with the exploration of the idea of a Magic Set in the vast, hot desert.

Greeting!

I like Sand Nomad...
It is like a real card XD

Byebye

I like Grow token!!
It's cute

DarkHamlet is a bad brother! XD
XP

Shhhht...
I'm thinking...

Vote 4 -> Amanda, Elven Queen ;P

I'm sorry for necroing.
I did it because I want to lnow about some card only with name and image.
Forgive me.

It's fine. Yeah, this project has just been stalled for a very long time because my art folder is a huge mess. Imagine 5000+ images in one giant pile in a folder. Its impossible to find anything.

One day I intend to take it somewhere, but currently, I'm mostly occupied with school and template production.

Mare Harenum is looking good. I don't know if you're looking for any new ideas, but I came up with some ideas as I read your thread.

How each color will see and interact with deserts...

White - Sounds good

Actually, I think blue could fit really well if you look at animal/plant adaptations. Most desert creatures retain moisture inside their bodies (ex. camel, kangaroo-mouse). Others choose to come out at night, where the temperature drops allot. Actually deserts do produce moisture, but mostly at night and most of it is lost almost at dawn. Maybe you could find something that could work for blue.

Black - nothing to add. Sounded good and other people already suggested some good ideas.

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Blue/Red - Nomads! And gypsies! Allot of art of negotiation, trickery, magic diversions. And passion, emotion!

Black/Green - nothing to add

Red/White - I'm in favor of the Sun culture thing... Sounds good!

Green/Blue - The animal/plant adaptations I wrote before? Moisture retaining abilities. Also, this really reminds me of oasis.

White/Black - This combo sounds very Egyptian to me. Very Sun/Death oriented!

These are my thoughts as I read this thread. Some are also personal opinions. Hope they can help you somehow!

.
.

Blue/Red ? I'm thinkin' steam. Water is a MAJOR mistake in the middle of the desert, but on the Deserts' edge ?

Blue/green ? I'm thinking Oases (yes, that's the plural) - great for goal orientation....

Red/White - G R E A T idea - could have serioius implications on the whole Desert thing.... Sun and HEAT - think about it....

Pull Reds fangs ??
NO WAY - you're forgetting Reds HEAT and FIRE abilities, and what's hotter than a Desert ?
Arizona gets so hot, people get SKIN CANCER just from being outside during the day....
AND - you can always rip open a CACTUS to get much needed moisture (U.S. Military Survival 101)

If you're gonna tone down some colors, you should boost up others, and Red's a natural....

Armspt is right about the White/Black thing - it definitely has an Egyptian flavor you can expand into...

And lots of other things you can exploit - like Sand Storms.

BP