Week 3 of Inktober.

Introducing the Vice Cards, based on the 7 Deadly Sins. They are definitely my favourite addition to the deck so far, and I got there by breaking a rule.

Here's the story.

Gods, Not Humans

I had a much simpler idea when I first started this subset: symbols. Coin for Greed, Food for Gluttony, Fire for Wrath, etc. It got the point across but it looked flat and boring, which is not what I had in mind for this project.

I looked around for inspiration and that's when I found myself rewatching a childhood anime — Fullmetal Alchemist. For context, this is the anime's version of the 7 Deadly Sins.

That's how I realised I could do the same, but instead of creating them as humans, I could reimagine them as wicked gods far removed from humanoid traits. No eyes, three mouths, more horns, endless possibilities.

By rows, left to right:

1. Sloth

2. Greed, Gluttony, Wrath

3. Envy, Pride, Lust

As I was designing these characters, I gathered tales and inspirations for each vice, then used its moral to reimagine the vice as an immortal being. For example, the sun that melted Icarus' wax wings exposing his pride and punishing his refusal to heed wisdom.

This naturally added depth to each character and pointed me towards their game mechanics.

• Sloth allows you to skip all trial cards

• Greed allows you to steal cards

• Gluttony consumes a card for every player

• Wrath doubles the effects of a chosen vice

• Envy swaps your cards with any player

• Pride forces any player to reveal their cards

• Lust allows you to decide a player's next move

Rulebreaker

Last week, I told myself storytelling isn’t the priority. This week, I followed my instincts and designed the Vices story first, aesthetics next, then function, and yet… I’m happier with them than anything else in the deck.

I’m starting to think that my design process was more rigid than necessary for this project. Function over aesthetics is smart for a checkout order, but it softens the impact of a world setting. I think the lesson isn’t to ignore story, but to let it earn its place by handing you the function.

What's next?

Week 4 will be the last week of Inktober where I'll reveal more of the game mechanics through obstacles, locations, wolves and potion cards.