Proxy Cards

For some of the game variants I'll be posting, you may need to create a proxy card. What exactly is a proxy card? It's a card that you substitute for a card you don't have.

The proxy card concept is actually built into Arcadia from the start. Due to the fact that there are no "starter decks" in Arcadia, buying one Story Pack and a Character Pack to play can lead to a problem...the Quest card in the Story Pack might require you to travel to specific League that was not provided. In that case you pick another one of your Leagues to represent the missing one. In essence, you create a proxy card for the missing League.

In the game you only need to substitute one League for another. But what if game variants require you to make multiple proxies? There are a couple of ways to create proxy cards:

1. Remember which card is the proxy card in your head. This is ok for 1 or 2 cards; any more than that can become a problem.
2. Write out on paper which League represents another. You can make a list or actually map out your Leagues.
3. Write on the card itself. Let's say you don't have that copy of Sibylline Swamp needed to complete Seek the Oracle's Advice, but you have 5 copies of Fields of Rust. You can take one of the Fields of Rust and write "Sibylline Swamp" on it with a marker. Keep a cardlist or my database handy for cross-reference.
4. Photocopy/print. If you have a friend that has the card, you can scan it and print, or make a photocopy on to cardstock. Unlike other card games, since Arcadia cards have square corners, you don't have to try to round them.

You can do the same thing with other cards to create proxies, not just with Leagues. In my next post, I'll present a solo variant that may require several proxies, especially if you don't have very many cards...