Dominion Strategy Forum

Dominion => Variants and Fan Cards => Topic started by: X-tra on August 01, 2022, 08:56:26 pm

Title: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 01, 2022, 08:56:26 pm
(https://i.postimg.cc/6QTkD9Nv/Heroes-Box.png)

(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/9/92/VP.png)     DOMINON: HEROES     (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/9/92/VP.png)

Things are getting out of hand. This morning, you had to squish another bat-winged eyeball on your way out of bed. And what was that in your soup at the royal buffet? A mutant tarantula? That does it. Soup is not to be disrespected. There’s an invasion right now. For once, your pesky neighbors aren’t to blame: rather, we are dealing here with waves upon waves of sharp toothed creatures. “Monsters”, so your peasants call them. No one knows where these devilish fiends came from, but you know where they’ll end up: under the steel caps of your boots.

It would be unrealistic to chase away these outliers on your own. Well, in the few quiet and uninterrupted dreams you have, that’s already a done deal. But the reality is, you had to get creative. You funded corps of blood thirsty mercenaries, “Saviors” – again, to borrow the word of the population. Those Saviors have a mission: to fill up their XP bar, to level up, to loot and to gear up from the corpses of these slayed Monsters. And hey, if that can contain the invasion all the while, mission accomplished for you too. To sip your soup in utter peace is a dream shared by every monarch after all.




Heroes:
Heroes is a full-sized fan expansion for Dominion. It features 30 Kingdom cards, 20 Events and 16 Monsters (what are Monsters??? Read more to find out!) This set’s mechanics include:
Here you can find:
I have been working on this set for more than a year now. I think more work has been put into this than my previous expansion, New World (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=21002.0), but truth be told, there was way more stuff to test and get right with Heroes. Still, I hope you enjoy the high standards this expansion hopes to achieve. Feel free to leave any comments!


Meet the Saviors, the Monsters, Strength and your trusty manual:

(https://i.postimg.cc/MGsfW1bM/Manual-blue.png) (https://i.postimg.cc/MGsfW1bM/Manual-blue.png)

Click the picture to enlarge it.


Cards/Landscapes:
(https://i.postimg.cc/LsH9y9zp/Bestiary-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/brKYN36X/Cloister-V4.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/P5ffyfbk/Joust-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/hGSgCLds/Clan-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/PJZJg6Ns/Convoy-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/L6vxNLR2/Informant-V4.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/23Rmnrzg/Protagonist-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/B6zJQ2RS/Warlock-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/kXvXWRbc/Watermill-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/tCj41NYJ/Booming-Town-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/c1V8F36G/Building-Site-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/qBn7M5BW/Cleric-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/XvQVmR8y/Fighter-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/hvLqg1Y1/Grindstone-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/MTgXrk6m/Magic-Coin-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/4NVHq3h7/Monster-Tamer-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/C5yLsj7v/Orc-Camp-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/0yCM5Hn9/Toll-V7.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/gjvcSnBG/Bunker-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/FRzH650w/Campfire-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/XJBY52fG/City-of-Gold-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/YSsShcWB/Heroic-Party-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/yxSsJkzF/Hops-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/811LZ1Kd/Paladin-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/tgTTqR7z/Pikemen-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/50QMW7pG/Pitfall-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/sgKxCGfX/Refuge-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/K8mjWD2w/Robber-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/BQTtNwd2/Hydra-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/dVFZYK8W/Region-V3.png)


(https://i.postimg.cc/hjF3Q28v/Crawling-Claws-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/gJq4Xmkt/Fairy-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/d36WXvbZ/Skeleton-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/j26mQCLT/Slime-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/NMwpj5Yr/Carnivorous-Plant-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/Y91D6Q83/Mimic-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/4xh7MHpx/Undead-V4.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/Bb4YMtVG/Zaratan-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/7ZYsPzyP/Chimera-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/YSFd71cH/Construct-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/J0pqxxXb/Kobold-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/xj3FqyXj/Troll-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/0jRqLBVN/Dragon-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/PrfVDpDW/Ent-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/L8wxGxbD/Kraken-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/Nj5NN3pL/Leviathan-V1.png)


(https://i.postimg.cc/rFVFWXQz/Crystallize-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/vZ091npN/Rest-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/d11CGM4f/Ascend-V4.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/VksKLWTL/Witch-Hunt-V6.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/cJnsZs4k/Burn-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/mZwTTpB4/Overwork-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/MKpqH0pQ/Plow-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/fLshNmPk/Refurbish-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/kgj9pVvd/Tactics-V5.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/3xyhCKpr/Travel-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/NjLNKyLN/Wanted-Poster-V8.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/zv5D09Nt/Adventure-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/TYt2J740/Collect-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/rm2qwvDV/Dukedom-V1.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/P5ctBLh8/Forest-Fire-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/9MPCRJ9G/Games-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/wM6HhL5n/Excavation-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/C5m0J5m5/Opportunity-V3.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/h4pRkJ1P/Wonder-V2.png)(https://i.postimg.cc/B6CfQtWp/Staircase-V2.png)


Special thanks:
Heroes has received the much-needed help from Crlundy, Gubump, LastFootnote and MochaMoko during many many play testing sessions. Without them, Heroes would be in a pretty sad state. Likewise, I received the helpful comments from many kind souls in the #variants channel of the Dominion Discord server. Heroes greatly benefited from these advices. Thank you to everyone involved for all of your help!

And last but not least, for anyone who comments here to give your opinions and muses: thank you! It’s always super encouraging and prompts me to do more Dominion fan-related work. :)

Cheers!
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: Gubump on August 02, 2022, 02:44:47 am
Mistakes in the Rulebook:

As worded, Tactics allows you to discard e.g. other players' Informants, since it only says "from play" rather than "that you have in play." I assume from the FAQ for it that that's unintentional.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 02, 2022, 09:41:21 am
Quote from: segura on August 02, 2022, 02:19:34 am
I really like Clan, best $3 Smithy- I ever saw.
Watermill looks slightly too good compared to Oasis. I guess it is a $4.
Pitfall looks pretty strong. Sure, Den of Sin immediately draws after gaining but I feel this does too much (non-terminal draw, extra Buy, Monsters).
Crawling Claws is also too good. It is basically a Lab when you pair it with the Savior. Imagine this is in the same Kingdom with Kobold.

Thank you for your input!

Watermill is in a strange place because, as good as a cantrip trasher sounds, the discarding really puts it in an awkward place. You don't get to do much with your leftover hand in the early game, and at least with cards like Steward, you get to trash twice, giving you a bigger tempo boost than Watermill.

Pitfall's Duration draw is appealing, especially slapped onto a Treasure. The problem, however, is that it is not a good Savior. It provides (https://i.postimg.cc/MGkCMBsH/image-2022-06-08-125036028.png) only 1 turn out of 2, and costs (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/7/7d/Coin5.png/16px-Coin5.png), a big hurdle for you to want to get early Fairies and such.

Crawling Claws is pretty damn good, no disagreement here. Best (https://i.postimg.cc/tCYwBkw7/Strength1.png) Monster by a fair margin.


Quote from: Gubump on August 02, 2022, 02:44:47 am
Mistakes in the Rulebook:

Thank you for taking the time to double check what my scatter brain couldn’t find :P . I have already edited the rulebook to apply your suggested changes.

Likewise, I changed Clan (“in” -> “into”). I also edited Tactics to disallow you being able to discard other players’ cards in play. I have no idea how I did not catch that one, RIP.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: Gubump on August 02, 2022, 11:22:19 am
Mistakes in rulebook v2.0:

Mistake in Secret History: The picture for Witch-Hunt is Games a 2nd time.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: GendoIkari on August 03, 2022, 03:57:34 pm
I don't understand Cloister. Does "play it" refer to playing the Cloister, or playing the Victory Card? If playing the Victory Card, what exactly does playing a Victory Card do? I mean if it's an Action-Victory then you get the benefit of saving an Action over playing it normally. But otherwise, what's the point? And does the Cloister stay set-aside forever?

*Edit* Ok, now I'm pretty sure it means play the Cloister again; discarding the victory card is just there to nerf the re-playing of Cloister slightly, so you can't trash the only Estate you have early on. But is it necessary to set the Cloister aside to replay it? Wouldn't "you may play this again" work just the same and be clearer? If the concern is for a Cloister that has left play, the regular lose-track rule, combined with the newish rule that you can't play lost cards, should be all you need.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 03, 2022, 06:15:39 pm
Quote from: GendoIkari on August 03, 2022, 03:57:34 pm
I don't understand Cloister. Does "play it" refer to playing the Cloister, or playing the Victory Card? If playing the Victory Card, what exactly does playing a Victory Card do? I mean if it's an Action-Victory then you get the benefit of saving an Action over playing it normally. But otherwise, what's the point? And does the Cloister stay set-aside forever?

*Edit* Ok, now I'm pretty sure it means play the Cloister again; discarding the victory card is just there to nerf the re-playing of Cloister slightly, so you can't trash the only Estate you have early on. But is it necessary to set the Cloister aside to replay it? Wouldn't "you may play this again" work just the same and be clearer? If the concern is for a Cloister that has left play, the regular lose-track rule, combined with the newish rule that you can't play lost cards, should be all you need.

The "set aside" clause of Cloister, I really wish I could've done without, but unfortunately, Throne Room exists. 3/4 into the making of Heroes, I had to change the wording of Cloister to deal with Throne variants. The problem is, you could Throne a Cloister. Next turn, you could decide, on your first play, to discard a Victory card to trash a card from your hand, and on your second play, to not replay Cloister. The end result is a Cloister that is now replayed once each turn, but with a Throne Room still attached to it. Thus, a tracking issue arises. The worst offender is Citadel, which may add an extra Cloister play (or not) each turn, making it so easy for you to loose track of how many times you may or may not replay Cloister. The set aside clause effectively forces Cloister to detach itself from any Throne Room that may linger with it.

Admittedly, it's not a big deal, because who would want to trash that much constantly from their starting hand? Still, in the end, I decided to be thorough about it. Maybe the massacred wording made Cloister not such a great addition to Heroes in the end.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: GendoIkari on August 03, 2022, 11:34:24 pm
Quote from: X-tra on August 03, 2022, 06:15:39 pm
Quote from: GendoIkari on August 03, 2022, 03:57:34 pm
I don't understand Cloister. Does "play it" refer to playing the Cloister, or playing the Victory Card? If playing the Victory Card, what exactly does playing a Victory Card do? I mean if it's an Action-Victory then you get the benefit of saving an Action over playing it normally. But otherwise, what's the point? And does the Cloister stay set-aside forever?

*Edit* Ok, now I'm pretty sure it means play the Cloister again; discarding the victory card is just there to nerf the re-playing of Cloister slightly, so you can't trash the only Estate you have early on. But is it necessary to set the Cloister aside to replay it? Wouldn't "you may play this again" work just the same and be clearer? If the concern is for a Cloister that has left play, the regular lose-track rule, combined with the newish rule that you can't play lost cards, should be all you need.

The "set aside" clause of Cloister, I really wish I could've done without, but unfortunately, Throne Room exists. 3/4 into the making of Heroes, I had to change the wording of Cloister to deal with Throne variants. The problem is, you could Throne a Cloister. Next turn, you could decide, on your first play, to discard a Victory card to trash a card from your hand, and on your second play, to not replay Cloister. The end result is a Cloister that is now replayed once each turn, but with a Throne Room still attached to it. Thus, a tracking issue arises. The worst offender is Citadel, which may add an extra Cloister play (or not) each turn, making it so easy for you to loose track of how many times you may or may not replay Cloister. The set aside clause effectively forces Cloister to detach itself from any Throne Room that may linger with it.

Admittedly, it's not a big deal, because who would want to trash that much constantly from their starting hand? Still, in the end, I decided to be thorough about it. Maybe the massacred wording made Cloister not such a great addition to Heroes in the end.

Makes sense. Part of the confusion came from me not immediately realizing how discarding a victory card was relevant at all if Cloister was being replayed; thus thinking that maybe the victory card is being played instead. That's just my oversight; although it's not great if you need to grasp a design/strategic decision in order to fully understand the wording on the card. Maybe just find out if I'm the only one who was unclear about what "it" was referring to.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 04, 2022, 12:00:38 pm
Quote from: GendoIkari on August 03, 2022, 11:34:24 pm
Makes sense. Part of the confusion came from me not immediately realizing how discarding a victory card was relevant at all if Cloister was being replayed; thus thinking that maybe the victory card is being played instead. That's just my oversight; although it's not great if you need to grasp a design/strategic decision in order to fully understand the wording on the card. Maybe just find out if I'm the only one who was unclear about what "it" was referring to.

I think the oversight is not on your end, but on mine. Cloister should absolutely say "this" instead of "it". We didn't catch that, and to me that seems like some extra precision could help. I will edit that card tonight.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 06, 2022, 12:43:14 pm
> Edited Cloister to give it more precision ("it" > "this" in the replay clause).

> Made some minor edits in the rulebook, as well as the addition of pagination (we're now up to version 4).

> Very trivial and minor edit for the second iteration of the secret history file. Simply replaced Witch-Hut's wrong picture, as Gubump pointed out.


I oughta update the TTS file at some point.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: sudhish86 on August 06, 2022, 04:40:27 pm
i very much like this expansion concept. probably my favorite so far.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: Udzu on August 16, 2022, 03:59:37 am
Lovely expansion!

Random question: is there a tool or template for making expansion boxes like the one you made for Heroes?
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on August 20, 2022, 12:43:13 pm
Quote from: Udzu on August 16, 2022, 03:59:37 am
Lovely expansion!

Random question: is there a tool or template for making expansion boxes like the one you made for Heroes?

Thank you! Unfortunately, I do not know if such tools exist. I've put mine together using Paint.net. Admittedly, I ain't much of a graphic designer.  :D


I've edited the OP post a bit. Tables are nice and all, but uh, the cards were sort of tough to browser through on smaller screens (ex: phones). It should be better now.

I made a very minor edit of the rulebook, so now we're moving on to version 4.1.

Finally, I've updated the Tabletop Simulator save file to include the changes I've made to Heroes since I posted this thread.
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: Udzu on September 01, 2022, 06:36:13 am
Quick question regarding Magic Coin: how many Coppers is it supposed to affect the following turn? Just one (i.e. "the first time you play a Copper"), all of them (i.e. "whenever you play a Copper"), or one per time you played Magic Coin the previous turn (not sure how to phrase that clearly)?
Title: Re: Dominion: Heroes
Post by: X-tra on September 01, 2022, 09:02:19 am
Quote from: Udzu on September 01, 2022, 06:36:13 am
Quick question regarding Magic Coin: how many Coppers is it supposed to affect the following turn? Just one (i.e. "the first time you play a Copper"), all of them (i.e. "whenever you play a Copper"), or one per time you played Magic Coin the previous turn (not sure how to phrase that clearly)?

On your next turn following one where you played one or more Magic Coin(s), all Coppers you play will immediately get returned to the Copper pile. It's as if Coppers that turn had their text changed to: "+(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/thumb/f/f7/Coin1.png/16px-Coin1.png). Return this to its pile". :)