Project cards are works in progress. The archetypal Project card starts out weak but can be made strong by repeatedly investing in it. When you buy a Project card, you have a choice: either you gain the card as usual, or you add one of your Project tokens to that card's supply pile. (This still counts as buying a card for the purposes of e.g. Merchant Guild or Contraband.) The number of Project tokens each player has on a given supply pile is referred to as that player's level of that pile; each supply pile therefore starts out at level 0. There is no hard limit on how many Project tokens a player can have, in total or on any given supply pile, though specific cards may stop accruing benefits after specific levels.
Redecorate (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Redecorate&description=Trash%20a%20card%20from%20your%20hand.%20You%20may%20gain%20a%20card%20costing%20up%20to%20%24%20equal%20to%20your%20Redecorate%20level%20(but%20not%20more%20than%20%244)%20more%20than%20it.&type=Action-Project&price=%243&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fhgtvhome.sndimg.com%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fimages%2Fgrdn%2Ffullset%2F2014%2F1%2F18%2F0%2F3-21-feng-shui-curved-walk-2.JPG.rend.hgtvcom.1280.960.jpeg&color0=0&color1=0) is a Remodel that starts out almost useless (although the "you may" wording means it can at least kill coppers) but can be built up to an Expand or beyond.
Entourage (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Entourage&description=%2B1%20Card%0A%2B1%20Action%0A%2B%20%241%0A-%0AWhen%20you%20buy%20this%20card%2C%20gain%20a%20non-Victory%20card%20costing%20%24%20equal%20to%20your%20Entourage%20level%20before%20the%20buy.&type=Action-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=https%3A%2F%2Fbyronsmuse.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F01%2Fisabeau-with-court-attendants-shown-in-a-19th-century-print.jpg&color0=0&color1=0) spends a while burdening you with junk (its on-buy effect is triggered when you put a Project token on it) before letting you gain it two at a time, or better.
Boom Town (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Boom%20Town&description=%2B1%20Card%0A%2B1%20Action%20per%20level%0AGain%20a%20Project%20card%20that%20all%20other%20players%20have%20lower%20levels%20of%20than%20you.&type=Action-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=https%3A%2F%2Fladyfi.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F04%2Fmining-huts.jpg&color0=0&color1=0) gradually becomes a village or better, but also helps you with anything you may be specializing in.
Initiate (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Initiate&description=Level%20%E2%89%A5%201%3A%20%2B1%20Action%0ALevel%20%E2%89%A5%202%3A%20%2B1%20Card%0ALevel%20%E2%89%A5%203%3A%20%2B1%20Buy%0ALevel%20%E2%89%A5%204%3A%20%2B%20%241%0ARepeat%20after%20every%20fourth%20level.%0A-%0AAt%20all%20times%2C%20this%20costs%20%24%20equal%20to%20the%20current%20player%27s%20Initiate%20level.&type=Action-Project&price=%24%3F&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2Forig10.deviantart.net%2F45e2%2Ff%2F2011%2F297%2F8%2F6%2Fmedieval_scribe_1_by_bardulf-d4dtpxo.jpg&color0=0&color1=0) is cheap but mostly useless until level 4, when it becomes a bargain Market with potential to grow even further. May be worth gaining before leveling.
Arsonist (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Arsonist&description=If%20level%202%20or%20above%2C%20%2B%20%243.%20Otherwise%20remove%20one%20of%20each%20other%20player%27s%20tokens%20from%20Supply%20piles.%0A-%0ASetup%3A%20Place%20a%20Project%20token%20on%20a%20Supply%20pile%2C%20or%20place%20your%20%2B1%20Buy%20token%20on%20an%20Action%20Supply%20pile.&type=Action-Attack-Project&price=%245&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-tc.pbs.org%2Findependentlens%2Fwp%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F08%2Flittle_hope_was_arson-01-press-1920x830.jpg&color0=0&color1=0) allows you to mess with whatever cards your opponents have been leveling.
Sellsword (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Sellsword&description=%2B%20%241%0ADraw%20one%20card%20per%20level%20of%20the%20second%20highest%20level%20of%20Sellsword.%0AIf%20all%20other%20players%20are%20lower%20level%20Sellswords%2C%20each%20other%20player%20discards%20down%20to%203%20cards%20in%20their%20hand.&type=Action-Attack-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticdelivery.nexusmods.com%2Fmods%2F110%2Fimages%2F19733-3-1341167892.jpg&color0=0&color1=0) is less effective than Militia but gains drawing abilities if other players compete with you for it.
College (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=College&description=%2B1%20Card%20per%20level%0A-%0AWhen%20you%20buy%20a%20card%20you%20may%20discard%20this%20from%20your%20hand.%20If%20you%20do%2C%20place%20a%20Project%20token%20on%20the%20Supply%20pile%20of%20a%20card%20costing%20less%20than%20the%20bought%20card.&type=Action-Reaction-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-3o7iZNiIPho%2FU-OVBSX916I%2FAAAAAAAAk2A%2FUTTqdmFqQOM%2Fs1600%2FHarry-Potter-in-Oxford-06a.jpg&color0=3&color1=0) is a drawer that wants you to buy expensive cards before you start playing it.
Caravansary (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Caravansary&description=At%20the%20start%20of%20each%20of%20your%20turns%20while%20this%20is%20in%20play%2C%20%2B%20%242%2C%20%2B1%20Buy.%0A-%0ADuring%20your%20cleanup%20phase%2C%20you%20may%20remove%20one%20of%20your%20Project%20tokens%20from%20the%20Caravansary%20Supply%20pile.%20If%20you%20do%20not%2C%20discard%20this.&type=Action-Duration-Project&price=%242&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2Ffullhdpictures.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F02%2FDifferent-Caravan-Wallpaper.jpg&color0=4&color1=0) needs at least one token on it before you start, but then carries money indefinitely into the future until you finally want it.
Sunken City (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Sunken%20City&description=%2B2%20Cards%0A%2B2%20Actions%0APut%20this%20on%20your%20Tavern%20mat.%0A-%0AYou%20may%20discard%20this%20from%20your%20Tavern%20mat%20when%20you%20add%20a%20Project%20token%20to%20a%20Supply%20pile.&type=Action-Reserve-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FjU11bP9MChI%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&color0=5&color1=0), like Encampment, disappears after you use it, but the moment you place a token somewhere you've got any number of sunken cities back in your deck again.
Ore (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Ore&description=%0A%2B%20%241%0A%2B%20%241%20per%20level%0A&type=Treasure-Project&price=%246&preview=%24%3F&picture=https%3A%2F%2F62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com%2Ffiles%2F29988%2Farea14mp%2F9836vjfv-1377579794.jpg&color0=1&color1=0) is as straightforward a project card as it gets, a criminally overexpensive Copper that can be made better than Gold.
Smeltery (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Smeltery&description=%0A%2B%20%241%0APay%20%24%20equal%20to%20your%20level%20(no%20more%20than%20%243).%20Take%20one%20coin%20token%20per%20%24%20paid.%0A&type=Treasure-Project&price=%244&preview=%241&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fmsnbcmedia.msn.com%2Fi%2FMSNBC%2FComponents%2FPhoto%2F_new%2Fpb-120307-gold-jm-08.jpg&color0=1&color1=0) turns coins into coin tokens, but only if you invest in it first.
Tithe (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Tithe&description=%2B%20%244%0A-%20%242%20per%20level%0A-%0AWhen%20you%20gain%20a%20Victory%20card%20while%20this%20is%20in%20play%2C%20place%20a%20Project%20token%20on%20Tithe.&type=Treasure-Project&price=%245&preview=%24%3F&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wikihow.com%2Fimages%2F3%2F3c%2FIdentify-Old-Coins-Step-9-Version-2.jpg&color0=1&color1=0) gives you a lot of money in short order, but slows down the moment you get too greedy with it.
Memorial (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Memorial&description=%2B%20%243%0A-%20%241%20per%20level%0A-%0AWorth%202%20%25%20per%20level%20(but%20no%20more%20than%206%20%25)&type=Treasure-Victory-Project&price=%247&preview=%24%3F&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dphotographer.co.uk%2Fusers%2F2488%2Fthm1024%2Fp1660299ce.jpg&color0=2&color1=2) is a pricier Gold that turns into a cheaper Province.
Ramparts (http://shemitz.net/static/dominion3/?title=Ramparts&description=Add%20a%20Project%20token%20to%20Ramparts.%0A-%0AWorth%204%20%25%20if%20no%20other%20player%20has%20a%20higher%20level%20of%20Ramparts%20than%20you%2C%20otherwise%202%20%25.&type=Action-Victory-Project&price=%244&preview=&picture=http%3A%2F%2Fphotoeverywhere.co.uk%2Fbritain%2Fconwy%2Fconway_castle3214.JPG&color0=2&color1=1) is a self-contained bidding war.
edit: fixed Ramparts link
This sounds just like Unjer's "Progress" cards. We've been playtesting a bunch of them in the Discord.
This sounds just like Unjer's "Progress" cards. We've been playtesting a bunch of them in the Discord.
Ive also been playtesting them. I dont mind that they are similar: Its super hard to come up with something completely new
This sounds just like Unjer's "Progress" cards. We've been playtesting a bunch of them in the Discord.
Ive also been playtesting them. I dont mind that they are similar: Its super hard to come up with something completely new
I'm not on Discord that much, and I haven't seen them.
Mechanic question: absent of cards that change levels on their own, can you only level up while there are cards remaining in the pile (ie, can you still buy a level when that pile is empty)?
Carnavale • $3* • Action - Level
Cards cost $1 less this turn, per level.
Gain a card costing up to $2 (after the price change).
-
On your turns, this costs $1 more per level.
Another thing I noted is how the Adventures tokens (or really Pathfinding, Lost Arts, Training and Seaway) are similar to levelling up. They're a good power gauge, and maybe the more interesting level-up effects will not simply be extra vanilla because they exist.
In any case, I was thinking about Adventures earlier and its use of +1 Card, +1 Action, etc. tokens to make supply piles better, but only for individual players. Those tokens are all pretty generic because they have to be, but what if you could tailor the tokens to specific supply piles? So I whipped up a few quick illustrations of that idea.
(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/6019de42b869588d9701fbff/60ef0c81cc21d38dc96434e0/f951a023c6492a633d79b03d847c3578/image.png)QuoteCarnavale • $3* • Action - Level
Cards cost $1 less this turn, per level.
Gain a card costing up to $2 (after the price change).
-
On your turns, this costs $1 more per level.
potential super-inventor that can't gain itself (without some other source of price reduction.)
An assumption I made here is the "level" talked about is always the player in question's level with that specific card, rather than anyone's/any card's level - I think this is a mechanic-wide assumption, and should probably be revised with a different keyword that better denotes ownership, but for playtesting + the sake of the contest, i'm just using "level".
(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/6019de42b869588d9701fbff/60ef0c81cc21d38dc96434e0/f951a023c6492a633d79b03d847c3578/image.png)QuoteCarnavale • $3* • Action - Level
Cards cost $1 less this turn, per level.
Gain a card costing up to $2 (after the price change).
-
On your turns, this costs $1 more per level.
potential super-inventor that can't gain itself (without some other source of price reduction.)
An assumption I made here is the "level" talked about is always the player in question's level with that specific card, rather than anyone's/any card's level - I think this is a mechanic-wide assumption, and should probably be revised with a different keyword that better denotes ownership, but for playtesting + the sake of the contest, i'm just using "level".
How would that cost-increasing work with cost-reducers? E.g., suppose you have 4 Highways in play and one level token - how much does Carnavale now cost? I can see two interpretations:
- It costs $1 - the base price is $3, that's reduced by $4, but it can't go below $0, so it's reduced to $0, then the level increases it to $1
- It costs $0 - the base price is $3, the level increases it to $4, then the Highways reduce it by $4, to $0
Which would be the correct interpretation? I'm thinking the first, based on the wording of Fisherman's reduction clause, i.e., "this costs $3 less" rather than "this costs $2". I'm assuming that the reason it's worded that way is that "this costs $2" would override other cost-reducers, implying that cost-changing on a card comes after other cost-reducers
(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/6019de42b869588d9701fbff/60ef0c81cc21d38dc96434e0/f951a023c6492a633d79b03d847c3578/image.png)QuoteCarnavale • $3* • Action - Level
Cards cost $1 less this turn, per level.
Gain a card costing up to $2 (after the price change).
-
On your turns, this costs $1 more per level.
potential super-inventor that can't gain itself (without some other source of price reduction.)
An assumption I made here is the "level" talked about is always the player in question's level with that specific card, rather than anyone's/any card's level - I think this is a mechanic-wide assumption, and should probably be revised with a different keyword that better denotes ownership, but for playtesting + the sake of the contest, i'm just using "level".
yeah i know. thats fine. inventors can just gain eachother like they're going to an inventor's conference. this, less so.(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/6019de42b869588d9701fbff/60ef0c81cc21d38dc96434e0/f951a023c6492a633d79b03d847c3578/image.png)QuoteCarnavale • $3* • Action - Level
Cards cost $1 less this turn, per level.
Gain a card costing up to $2 (after the price change).
-
On your turns, this costs $1 more per level.
potential super-inventor that can't gain itself (without some other source of price reduction.)
An assumption I made here is the "level" talked about is always the player in question's level with that specific card, rather than anyone's/any card's level - I think this is a mechanic-wide assumption, and should probably be revised with a different keyword that better denotes ownership, but for playtesting + the sake of the contest, i'm just using "level".
You know that "Carnivalle" itself can be an other source of cost reduction, right? Or if you throne Carnivalle, the second one can gain itself. Personally, I'd say "All cards other than Carnivalle cost $1 less this turn". Unless you actively want to make Carnivalle more expansive if you fail to play any Carnivalles.
Warlord
Action - Level - Attack
$2
+1 Card
+1 Action
Each other player discards cards until the number of cards in their hand is one per token less than five, then draws to three cards.
-
When you gain this during your buy phase, +1D per level.
A lab variant. Powers up the more you buy it, but you have to keep fueling it.
added the +1 Buy treatment to it. Now either you could pile this on a turn, but have a load of junk in your deck, or you could spent a lot of excess money on powering it up.
(https://i.imgur.com/rT8rIN8.png)
could also just make it cost 2 debt so it dodges cost reduction but in practise (ignoring gainers) still costs $2.A lab variant. Powers up the more you buy it, but you have to keep fueling it.
added the +1 Buy treatment to it. Now either you could pile this on a turn, but have a load of junk in your deck, or you could spent a lot of excess money on powering it up.
(https://i.imgur.com/rT8rIN8.png)
Adding this +1 buy-on-purchase effect to a card that only costs $2 is always sketchy, as a Ferry or singular Quarry can reduce this card's cost to $0. This interaction is downright broken in this case, because it enables to power up Volatile Laboratory infinitely and then snatch all VLs away entirely for free.
It's otherwise a cool idea, but you gotta do something about that (just removing and making the card your typical it-needs-+Buy-to-be-truely-amazing card is probably just fine. Alternatively, you could add an overpay effect).
20 Hour Warning!!!
(I'm a few minutes late again. The deadline for submissions is still 23:59 UTC / 7:59 p.m. Eastern (Forum) time on Sunday, July 18, 2021.)
Here are the submissions so far:
spineflu's Carnavale
mxdata's Warlord
fika monster's Volatile Laboratory
naitchman's Breeder
20 Hour Warning!!!
(I'm a few minutes late again. The deadline for submissions is still 23:59 UTC / 7:59 p.m. Eastern (Forum) time on Sunday, July 18, 2021.)
Here are the submissions so far:
spineflu's Carnavale
mxdata's Warlord
fika monster's Volatile Laboratory
naitchman's Breeder
You're missing Aquila's Aristocrat (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=20851.msg873298#msg873298).
(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/6019de42b869588d9701fbff/60ef0c81cc21d38dc96434e0/f951a023c6492a633d79b03d847c3578/image.png) Quote from: Carnavale Carnavale -- $3* | Carnavale by spineflu An interesting take on discounters in general and Inventor in particular. The cost increasing effect creates a potentially interesting dilemma: whether to buy and gain first or start leveling up. However, the card is pretty useful from the jump, especially if there are any $2 cantrips, which reduces the risk of opening with it (if you end up playing it before you can add a level). Once there is one token, it will always get you at least a Silver, and if you add more tokens it can quickly become a powerful gainer and discounter. Also, because both effects are on-play, if you can use a Throne Room (or variant thereof), you can double the effect. With just 3 tokens the second play will gain you a Province. In theory, the increasing cost makes each token harder to add. However, while (absent other discounting) this doesn't self-gain, it does self-discount, meaning (again, absent other price changing) that in any turn it is played, the first buy costs $3. Combined with any decent +Buy, and it is not at all unfeasible to imagine player repeatedly playing a Forager or Market Square then this, and buying both this (adding a token) and another, discounted card. While doing so would slow down deck development at first, by the time a player hit level 3 it would be a wash (except that Carnivale takes up a spot in your hand), and thereafter it's a net discount. Even if a player doesn't get it up to being a Province gainer, at just 4 tokens it gives you a Gold/Duchy/Fairgrounds, and cuts the cost of Provinces to $4. This effect can be further exacerbated by the presence of Quarry or Ferry, which can push that cost down to $1. In games without +Buy, it is somewhat weaker. The choice to add a level (or buy another copy) later in the game at $3 is going to be a tough one with a hand full money (and everything else on discount), while paying full price at higher levels may seem too burdensome. Nevertheless, it is not hard to imagine opening with this, adding a token at $3 and $4. That results in a Princess without a true +Buy, but with a gainer (which functions as a virtual +Buy). If you spring for putting on a token at $5 (or forego one Princess buy) it then gains $5 cards and discounts the non-Kingdom cards by one level (e.g. Gold to Silver, Province to Duchy). The fact that you have had to make 3 purchases prior to that keeps it from being broken, but it still is a powerful tool that seems like it would be hard to pass up in most games. |
(https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/5f5a8e8e7ed38b522f25641a/5f9bd66b012b49424958b5f2/1613cbdc45203fb7b74af7e8578e4a8e/Aristocrat_(1).png) Quote from: Aristocrat Aristocrat -- $3 | Aristocrat by Aquila I like this card a lot. It combines two of my favorite effects (the choice-of-draw from Border Guard/Raze and throne variants). I also like the use of the Level mechanic as a way to adjust its power. I liked that that is variable, and I'm not sure there is a good alternative. There's not really a card price to tie it to (as with Raze) and City's empty Supply pile mechanic is probably to slow. I certainly don't think it needs any kind of ceiling. No matter how many tokens you put on it, I'm not sure that it is ever strictly better than Golem, which comparably requires multiple purchases (the a purchase of a Potion at $4 and then another purchase of Golem at $4+), and that can go as far into your deck as you need. At 4 purchases of $3, this only shows you the top 3 cards of your deck (and, of course, you also have to have bought whatever Action card you are going to play). The ability to choose from among more than one card is strong, but not strong enough to make Raze or Border Guard cost more than $2. Heck, no matter how powerful this gets, it's never even strictly better than Throne Room (which works in cases when you've drawn or played all of your Actions, while this does not). |
(https://i.imgur.com/CmfkxBK.png) Quote from: Warlord Warlord -- $2 | Warlord by mxdata A cantrip attack at $2 seems way too dangerous. There is no cost to playing it, and this can pretty easily turn into one of the most destructive attacks in the game. The only attack that makes you discard your entire hand is Minion, and that gives the target back 4 cards, and also requires the attacker to discard--although if played right that is to the attacker's benefit. Legionary's attack is conditional and attached to a terminal card. Also, the reason Legionary's attack is better than Militia's is that Militia leaves you with the 3 best cads in your hand, while Legionary leaves you with the 2 best, and one random card from your deck; here, at 5 tokens opponents are left with 3 random cards from their deck. Also, as was pointed out with fika monster's card, the $2 cost with these is dangerous, as a simple Ferry or Quarry reduces the cost of it to $0. It isn't as big a problem here, as yours does not give the +buy, but it nevertheless turns each Buy a player has into another level (and it's not hard to imagine a player opening Ferry/Worker's Villager or Forager/Quarry). While this is somewhat mitigated by the debt penalty, because this is a cantrip there is not much downside to putting one (or more) into your deck before powering it up (especially at $2, where you are not even foregoing buying a Silver, even without cost reduction). You can also remodel Coppers and Curses into it, meaning even after you add levels, on many board you will still be able to easily get copies of it. Overall, I think this becomes extremely oppressive much too quickly and easily. I think the idea of a scaling attack has potential, but I think this is just too powerful. |
(https://i.imgur.com/jVqdFq0h.png) Quote from: Volatile Laboratory Volatile Laboratory -- @2 | Volatile Laboratory by fika monster When I started thinking about this card, it made me think of the "Secret History" of Horses. Quote from: Secret History of Horse link=http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Horse#Secret_History The other idea was for a particular way to do "+1 Card token (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Token)s." I considered them for Renaissance (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Renaissance), but it didn't sound great to have a pile of tokens you could constantly consider cashing in for cards. What I ended up doing for Renaissance was Sinister Plot (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Sinister_Plot), which just happens at the start of a turn. But another approach was to have a pile of One-shot (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/One-shot) Labs (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Laboratory) you could gain. It was like a +1 Card token, except different in all the ways it's different - you can only use it when drawing it, you can Remodel (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Remodel) it, and so on. There wasn't room for a big pile of those in Renaissance, though it got Experiment (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Experiment). So this was another thing to try right away, and right away I liked it. Horse itself started and ended costing (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/3/32/Coin3.png/16px-Coin3.png), but I tried having it cost (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/3/3d/Coin2.png/16px-Coin2.png), to make it weaker with trash-for-benefit (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Trash-for-benefit). I preferred it being stronger there. Here, you have found a new way to create a new version of the +1 Card token, the Level tokens on Volatile Laboratory. As with Ride, buying one of these to add a Level token will later result in your drawing an additional card. However, the is a massive difference between this card and Horses, Experiments, or Sinister Plot tokens. With each of those, for every extra card you draw, you must "cash in" one of your tokens. Horses/Experiments are returned to their respective piles, and the tokens on Sinister Plot are all returned as well. Here, when you play your Volatile Lab, you get one card per token you have (minus one, since you are playing a card to make it happen), but you only need to cash in one of your tokens. This means that, as long as you continue to invest in it by adding a token after each play, the other tokens can be used an unlimited number of times. There is also a disadvantage to this compared to those cards, which is that you have to pay a kind of tax, once per copy of Volatile Lab you buy (which is required for you to access the tokens, but does not itself give a token), and once per play, as playing the card from your hand is functionally -1 Card (which is why Horse gives you +2 Cards to net +1). However, these taxes are little compared to the massive advantages. Of course, there are ways to use Experiment/Horse more than once, namely by using a Throne variant, but those inherently require interactions with other cards, and will at most play the card 3 times using Kings Court. But you could easily use many of these tokens far more than 3 times each. It would not at all be hard to put, say, five tokens on this and then gain one, spending $12 distributed over as many turns as you need (or, with the +Buy, as few as you want). If you committed to replacing a token every time you used it, you would have a card that gave, in effect, +5 Cards, +1 Action, -$2, not as a one-shot but to be played once per shuffle, for the rest of the game. You can also get more of them for 2 Debt each (although they would not chain well on the same turn, since each would give you one card fewer and still cost -$2 to get you back, so you would not want to get too many). Plus, before long, on the turns you used it you would very likely hit a number well above $10, meaning in a Provinces game you could frequently not only replace the token spent, but add more tokens for the following play of the card. I do like the idea, but I think it needs to be nerfed. I think the most obvious way to do it would be to take away the +1 Buy. If that's too harsh, you could switch it back to costing coins, and make the +Buy contingent on the player actually spending $2. This will prevent players from adding an unlimited number of tokens, but also require players to actually hit $2 to add or gain (and not, for example, be able to pay $1 on one turn and $1 on the next). This was definitely a good effort, but I think it ended up being a bit too powerful. |
(https://i.imgur.com/sLmsDvW.png) Quote from: Breeder Breeder -- $4 | Breeder by naitchman This is a fun idea, and I really like it. The comparison to Experiment is obvious, and I do like the innovative way of using the Level tokens to adjust the card's power. However, I think you have overpriced it, as I don't think your version is better than the original. The two cards are identical in function on-play, so the only issue is which version gets you more copies per buy. With Breeder, you will have to Buy it at least twice to add Level tokens before buying it for a gain in order to ever get more copies than you would from just buying an Experiment (as at Level 0 you always get fewer, and at Level 1 you get the same number, but have used one of your buys not gaining any). My sense was that it was going to frequently be hard to catch up, so I decided to look at the numbers: (https://i.imgur.com/fzOIuvF.png) This presumes you buy Breeder a certain number of times to add tokens, then start buying it to gain cards. As you can see, none of them get ahead of Experiment before the 7th buy. In addition to it being questionable how frequently that will ever happen, you are also pushing the gaining of any of them back, delaying the point at which it helps you hit higher totals to let you improve your deck. And it increases the chance that you will end up buying these and not getting to use them because the game ended. There might be some circumstances where you would prefer to get this type of card later in games and in larger batches (especially if you have a Royal Seal or the like). But I don't think that's enough to make these cost more. In games with both Breeder and Experiment, I think it would be very rare to choose investing in these as opposed to just using Experiment. Now, I actually think one potential design element of Level cards is the ability to strengthen your future deck without adding any cards to it (in that way it bears some similarity to VP tokens). You can add Level tokens before putting the then-weak card into your deck. However, I don't think that reasoning applies as well here, as gaining non-terminal Actions that always let you increase your handsize by 1 is something you want in virtually every context and fairly consistently throughout the game. But the core idea behind the card is a good one. |
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/797106542360002570/866932762670006283/Assembly.png) Quote from: Assembly Assembly -- $4 | Assembly by The Alchemist This is a really solid entry. While the leveling function is certainly significant, it never becomes too overpowered, as the player ultimately ends up with the same number of cards in their hand. There are also some degree of diminishing returns, as at some point you are almost always able to get exactly what you need into your hand, and further sifting doesn't help. Another thing I really like about this card is the fact that (as you suggested) it sets up an interesting choice on an ongoing basis between buying for gain and buying for a level token. Would you rather have 2 Fugitives or 1 Forum? Probably 2 Fugitives. Would you rather have 3 Fugitives or 2 Forums? Maybe a harder call, but if you take the Fugitives, the next choice is between 4 Fugitives and 3 Forums, at which point you probably add the token. There's kind of a Duke/Duchy dynamic, in that each time you purchase one, it makes buying the other more appealing. Definitely a solid card design and would have been a real contender if it had been submitted by the deadline. |
I know the contest is closed, so feel free to ignore this incredibly late submission if you've already started judgement. If so my apologies.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/797106542360002570/866932762670006283/Assembly.png)
Since Fugitive is normally cited as needing to cost between $4 and $5, this card is a great way to make a card like that a Supply pile, on top of being able to make a card Stronger than Forum available without it needing to be prohibitively expensive. Takes 3 investments of $4 to make it a stronger-than-forum, but by then you might just want more Fugitives. Its an interesting tradeoff one will have to make between having more sifters or stronger sifters, so I can see it being a fun card to play with. Considering dropping the price to $3 though.
I know the contest is closed, so feel free to ignore this incredibly late submission if you've already started judgement. If so my apologies.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/797106542360002570/866932762670006283/Assembly.png)
Since Fugitive is normally cited as needing to cost between $4 and $5, this card is a great way to make a card like that a Supply pile, on top of being able to make a card Stronger than Forum available without it needing to be prohibitively expensive. Takes 3 investments of $4 to make it a stronger-than-forum, but by then you might just want more Fugitives. Its an interesting tradeoff one will have to make between having more sifters or stronger sifters, so I can see it being a fun card to play with. Considering dropping the price to $3 though.
Sorry, I somehow missed this before. I will try to give you feedback later today/tomorrow (but I've already decided on the winner).
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