Who are the heroes?

One of the first questions that needs be asked when creating a RPG setting with M:TG is who the players are gonig to be.   There are two options as I see it.  The player characters (or PCs in future uses) are either going to take the role of multiverse striding planeswalkers wielding the power of mana (or magic) to summon creatures to do their bidding and cast spells to hinder their foes and aid their minions.    Such superpowerful beings are easily a match for entire hell dimensions (go Buffy reference!) solo and only really challenged by another being of their own sort. Conflicts of which are the operational metaphor for most games of magic.  The other option is that the PCs take the role of those humble creatures whom the planeswalkers frequently call forth to fight for them.  Each option has some merit.  

If the PCs take the role of planeswalkers we are looking at some pretty wild rule set.  I'm honestly not sure where to start perhaps the Hero system could handle it (though perhaps not),  the sort of individuals only occasionally interacting when it benefits them to do so is somewhat similar to World of Darkness style roleplaying so perhaps some inspiration could be drawn there.  On the plus side of this option is that you would be interacting as equals or near equals with characters that Wizards of the Coast has been pushing more into the public eye.  You could match wits with Garruk, or arm wrestle Jace. These elements have some level of appeal.   The problem is that such mythic character require mythic level foes. Admittedly Nicol Bolas the planeswaker who stated life as an elder dragon is one such dude with his dupes and minions makeing for minor threats along the way, but at the same time I feel like WotC is doing a fine job of telling that story.  I simply do not feel inspired to run games set at that power level.  Perhaps I'm wrong.  Regardless, such a game would require either an entirely new system (a severe challenge) or heavy pushing of a generic system such as GURPS or HERO.  A side thought occours to me that perhaps the Amber diceless rpg could be converted, but then I think back to those games of Amber I've seen people play.  Perhaps GURPS would be better.

The second option is that the players the the role of the little guy.  They may start as just another Icatian Javelineer but they could someday hope to become a bad ass legend like Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer.  This sort of advancement though play would fit with most rpgs that start the players as first level scrublings and they advance through classes to superhuman beings.  The strong disadvantage with this plan is that players are probably aware they aren't the biggest kids on the block.  "Why doesn't Chandra just swoop in and save the day?" they might ask. This is somewhat similar to plot problems encountered by comic heroes when people wonder why Iron Man doesn't just swoop in and figure out whats wrong or at lest help.  Sometimes refereed to as Forgoten Realms syndrome by the D&D community. Personally I think this can be avoided by a skilled GM who is able to create reasons as to why planeswalkers don't just come in and save the day. The easy answer is that most of them just don't care about the little guy and its often true enough.  Those guys spend so much time contending among themselves that a series of murders in Kinsbaile is completely below their notice.  All they care about is that the creatures come when summoned, and presumably being summoned to fight a being of cosmic power by another such being is a fairly unusual event for most sentient beings.   The real advantage to this style of play is that it is most easily adapted to more commonly known gaming systems like D&D.  For this reason and because I think the little guys have some good stories left to tell I will be choosing to develop along this line of reasoning in future posts.