Dominion Strategy Forum
Dominion => Dominion General Discussion => Topic started by: werothegreat on August 07, 2018, 11:55:25 am
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What order do Dominion expansions take place in? I don't mean their release order; I mean how would they be ordered in a way that makes sense historically. Here's my attempt:
Empires
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/0/0c/Empires.jpg/600px-Empires.jpg) This set clearly takes place first. It's evoking the Roman empire, and has a lot of ancient/classical references, most pre-Christian.
Dark Ages
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/d/dd/Dark_Ages.jpg) The medieval era started with the fall of the Roman empire, beginning what is commonly called the European Dark Ages.
Nocturne
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/7/7b/Nocturne.jpg/599px-Nocturne.jpg) Here we are still in an age full of superstition and paganism, though we have fully left the old Romans behind.
Base
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/2/21/Dominion2.jpg/600px-Dominion2.jpg) The first set most closely evokes a traditional medieval setting, just starting to pull out of a Dark Age.
Intrigue
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/5/57/Intrigue2.jpg/598px-Intrigue2.jpg) The medieval era is in full swing, now with Game of Thrones style backstabbing and political games.
Adventures
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/d/da/Adventures.jpg/595px-Adventures.jpg) Quality of life has improved enough that a small minority of people have leisure time enough to start exploring their own continent.
Alchemy
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/6/67/Alchemy.jpg) More leisure time! People have started to poke and prod at things and have begun to do what will eventually become science.
Cornucopia
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/2/26/Cornucopia.jpg/402px-Cornucopia.jpg) All that proto-science has started to do the trick, and farm yields are bigger than ever, sparking a boom in population.
Prosperity
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/9/97/Prosperity.jpg) The harvest has been bountiful, and the kingdom is rich. It might be time to set our sights on other kingdoms...
Seaside
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/3/37/Seaside.jpg) For the first time since the Romans, European powers can afford to field large navies.
Guilds
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/0/02/Guilds.jpg/404px-Guilds.jpg) All that prosperity and leisure time means there is now suddenly a middle class. They form proto-unions.
Hinterlands
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/a/a1/Hinterlands.jpg/598px-Hinterlands.jpg) Contact between Europeans and Asians is fully re-established, and the silk road gets into full swing. Europeans bring back cool new inventions from China and India.
Renaissance
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/1/18/Renaissance.jpg/599px-Renaissance.jpg) Artists and proto-scientists rediscover techniques known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and apply them. The medieval era is officially over.
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Nice! Now I want to play themed single-set Dominion games in the lead-up to Renaissance previews week.
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I'm seeing the origin of a legacy-style campaign expansion here. Time to start tearing up cards, I guess.
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Great work!
So how is Dominion exploring european history further on? :)
That would be sooo great!
Will we see the Enlightenment (niceee), the french revolution or the industrial revolution? Reminds me of Assassin's Creed somehow... ??? :D
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I would put Nocturne before Dark Ages. Nocturne represents a superstitious era of bards and druids that was largely eradicated by the fuedal era of Dark Ages.
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I'd put Seaside last. Some of the cards (Native Village, Tactician) seem to be 18th-century, or 17th-century at the latest. I'd also put Prosperity after Renaissance, since colonialism came after the renaissance in real life. Both "Pirate Ship" and "Colony" should objectively be post-renaissance.
Then you have cards like Oracle, which seems to come from the same time period as Empires despite being in Hinterlands (and, honestly, always seemed out of place for the set). I would put Hinterlands more in the medieval era, though (just because it has Asian cards, that doesn't mean that it's from a time when Europeans directly interacted with Asia rather than trading indirectly via the Silk Road).
I'd also put Adventures next to Nocturne since the both have a "legendary" feel (don't Bridge Trolls and Giants belong alongside Pookas and Pixies?). I might even put Dark Ages and Nocturne in the same time period, with Dark Ages in continental Europe and Nocturne in the British Isles.
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Prosperity has Colony. Where are these colonies exactly? It seems to me that they are post-Renaissance (well not after the entire Renaissance, but you know, after the early Renaissance). I would bump Seaside closer to the Renaissance too.
On the other end I would put Adventures next to Nocturne.
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I would put Nocturne before Dark Ages. Nocturne represents a superstitious era of bards and druids that was largely eradicated by the fuedal era of Dark Ages.
That sounds reasonable.
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My argument is that increased prosperity lead to increased leisure time which lead to the Renaissance, hence putting Prosperity before Renaissance.
I went back and forth between Adventures closer to Nocturne (folktale stuff) or Hinterlands (exploration), and settled for somewhere in the middle. It definitely feels medieval-y in flavor.
The Portuguese were colonizing the African coast before the Renaissance really took off. Venice colonized the Balkans during the Crusades. The idea of "colonies" is not something that started with the Age of Exploration - Carthage started off as a Phoenician colony.
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I'm also noticing the main gaping holes in European history left are the Reformation and the Crusades. While both have those have a fair amount of war involved, which the Germans might not like, it might be cool to have an African or Middle Eastern themed set, or maybe a far-north Viking-ish set.
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Where are these colonies exactly?
On my Islands!
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I know there were Roman patricians, but thinking along these lines I can't help feeling it's a shame that card name wasn't saved for Renaissance.
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I'm also noticing the main gaping holes in European history left are the Reformation and the Crusades. While both have those have a fair amount of war involved, which the Germans might not like, it might be cool to have an African or Middle Eastern themed set, or maybe a far-north Viking-ish set.
The German edition of the game is not sold by Hans im Glück anymore, so I don't think that's a problem. I do think that both Reformation and Crusades have too many of their unique themes based on religion, though.
I notice that all religious objects and characters are relatively nonspecific. There's no cross in Chapel, and Bishop looks like a fantasy character. Also we have a Torturer and a Tormentor, but no Inquisitor. It gives me the impression that those themes are intentionally kept very mild.
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I'm also noticing the main gaping holes in European history left are the Reformation and the Crusades. While both have those have a fair amount of war involved, which the Germans might not like, it might be cool to have an African or Middle Eastern themed set, or maybe a far-north Viking-ish set.
The German edition of the game is not sold by Hans im Glück anymore, so I don't think that's a problem. I do think that both Reformation and Crusades have too many of their unique themes based on religion, though.
I notice that all religious objects and characters are relatively nonspecific. There's no cross in Chapel, and Bishop looks like a fantasy character. Also we have a Torturer and a Tormentor, but no Inquisitor. It gives me the impression that those themes are intentionally kept very mild.
Religion and Vikings both made my list of potential themes a while back, but yes religion doesn't seem great in large doses. And Vikings, Tom Lehmann picked out names for Adventures cards for a Scandinavian theme, and the great names just weren't there. I mean you can tack on "snowy" to something but uh. Like, part of why Empires was Roman was that there were just so many appropriate potential card names that were clearly Roman.
I don't know where Altenburger stands on war flavor, but I don't think they'd dissuade us from doing Crusades. A problem though is that it suggests an attack-heavy set that I think most players don't want.
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I'm also noticing the main gaping holes in European history left are the Reformation and the Crusades.
"Industry" would be quite a succinct name and fertile theme.
Or go to the opposite extreme, like Carcassonne, and do Dominion: Hunters and Gatherers. (-8
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I think there is definitely room for an Arabian-themed Dominion expansion. Of course some people might find that controversial.
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I think there is definitely room for an Arabian-themed Dominion expansion. Of course some people might find that controversial.
At least we already got Harem out of the way ;)
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I'm seeing the origin of a legacy-style campaign expansion here. Time to start tearing up cards, I guess.
If I were to take a stab, I believe some of us already did with their 1E cards :o
If nothing else, I'd also look forward to taking colored Sharpies to the cards, and applying stickers with +3 Precision.
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I'm seeing the origin of a legacy-style campaign expansion here. Time to start tearing up cards, I guess.
If I were to take a stab, I believe some of us already did with their 1E cards :o
If nothing else, I'd also look forward to taking colored Sharpies to the cards, and applying stickers with +3 Precision.
I am more thinking about sleeving all the cards and adding transparent layers like in Mystic Vale or removable stickers like in Gloomhaven.
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Pretty neat to see them all side by side like that.
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A bit beside the point, but Gloomhaven is mechanically broken for me. The more you buff a card, the thicker it becomes, and I can not only feel that when shuffling, I can't not feel it. If you see what I mean.