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1

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 19, 2020, 10:23:22 pm »

Jonatan Djurachkovitch

Homunculus
$3P - Action
+1 Action
+3 Cards
+1 Buy
Choose one: Trash a Treasure card from your hand, or trash this.

Three cards and an action is a very powerful ability, and +Buy is also super useful on an engine piece. It even trashes Coppers and eventually your Potion!
I imagine that in practice, this is a bit overpowered. I don't think you could ever really skip this on a board - it feels like Sauna/Avanto as a single card with +Buy.
Perhaps it could trash itself or a Potion instead of any treasure. I think that would make for some very interesting decision-making.

gambit05

Astrologer
$3P – Action
+1 Action
Choose one: Return a Potion from your hand to the Supply, for +3 Cards; or +1 Buy and gain a Potion to your hand.

Here is another $3P for three cards and an action, but with the Potion "trashing." Also has the option of +Buy, but at the cost of possibly junking yourself - though maybe it wins you the Vineyard split. I really like this, and would definitely like to playtest it. Seems both balanced and fun.

spineflu

Aonbarr • $4P • Action
+4 Cards
You may trash a card from your hand.
You may return this to its pile for +2 Actions.
-
Instead of paying this card's cost, you may pay PP; if you do, +1 Buy and +$2

The top part of this card seems certainly overpowered. I love the idea of returning a drawer for +Action, but even without that, +4 Cards and trashing is super strong. I think you'd probably need to bring that down to +2 Cards or up the cost by at least P.
The bottom part of this card is absolutely wild. And I love it. Gaining a card for two potions and then getting another buy and money is fantastic. Makes those double Potion hands something to actually shoot for. I really enjoy the creativity here.

Aquila

Catalyst - Action, PP cost.
+1 Action
+1 Buy
Play any number of Treasures from your hand. + $1 per Potion you played.
Draw until you have 6 cards in hand.

This is a very interesting. Double Potion cost is super tricky to pull off, but that is a very powerful ability, and it rewards you for having those extra Potions in your deck. I feel like you want multiple of these for sure, but you also want lots of Treasures. And, of course, it plays Treasures during your action phase, so shenanigans will occur from time to time (Capitalism loves this!) You could actually forgo the Treasures and just use this as a Lab, which gives the card versatility.
The only thing I might change is to remove the +Buy. A Lab with upside already seems powerful enough, though never having played a card costing PP, that +Buy might be fully warranted.

Xen3k

School Courier - $5
Action
+1 Action
Trash a card from your hand. Choose one: gain a Card costing up to $2 more; or gain a card costing up to (P) more; or gain to your hand a Potion and a Copper.

For someone who doesn't play with Alchemy, you've made a very fine card! It is a little clunky that it gains Potion - maybe change that bit to "Treasure costing $4 or less?" Allows it to grab potions, but also Silver, Talisman, Quarry, etc. Makes it into a slightly different Mine effect if you trash Copper, but I think that's fine for a 5-cost.
The gaining of a Potion card is fantastic. I can already feel the excitement I would have when this and a Potion-cost card showed up together.

grep

Distillery
P - Action
+1 Buy
Trash a card from hand. Gain a Potion or a card costing up to $2 more than the trashed card.

Another interesting card, which also remodels. I like that it gets you to Province from Copper faster than a traditional Remodel. However, it isn't as good at trashing copies of itself, so there's balance there. The +Buy could be deceptively useful if you have enough other things going on.

D782802859

Alkahest - Action - $5
+3 Cards
The first time you play a Treasure costing $4 or more this turn, +$2.

A very interesting spin on making Potions worth $. The only downside is that you don't really want a lot of these, and it doesn't specifically tie into potions. It doesn't really fit into Alchemy in general, although I would love for this to be a real card. It makes a lot of expensive Treasures better, which I really like.

majiponi

Humanoid
cost $6P - Action - Duration
Set aside a non-Duration, non-Command Action card from the Supply costing up to $4. At the start of each of your turns, play that Action, leaving there.

This is very cool, and certainly worth the 6P. I've always had a soft spot for Prince, so this is just the sort of card I'd love to have in a set. It's also a slightly better Captain, but it cost P more, so it should be. A simple and useful design. Nice!

herw

Alchemist's Laboratory $1P Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy
You may play a Potion or a Silver for +1 Card.

I appreciate all the work and thought you've put into this! However, I think your earlier version might have been more balanced. I am comparing this to Alchemist, which is a Lab with upside if you have a Potion. This is Lab with upside if you have a Potion or a Silver, and it costs $2 less. I understand what you mean about not wanting it to be a fairly useless card without a specific Treasure in hand, but I think the upside is certainly worth the gamble.

Alchemist's Laboratory $2P Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
You may play a Potion or a Silver for +1 Card and +1 Buy.

This is the version I most prefer, and I think it would be a very fun card to play.


I am so glad that I can say with absolutely sincerity that you guys made some amazing cards here, and I am finding it difficult to choose a winner.
However, a decision must be made, so I'm going with:

Astrologer
by
gambit05

Runners-up:
I could probably just put "everyone" here, and it would be accurate.
But, concessions must be made for contests, so I will name the following:
Catalyst, Aqulia (I very much want to play this card.)
School Courier, Xen3k (Turning non-Potion cards into Potion cards is absolutely something I want to do now.)
Alchemist's Laboratory (version 2), herw (Not your official entry, but you posted it, and I really liked it.)

Thank you to everyone for submitting!!!!!

2

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 19, 2020, 08:40:17 pm »

That's time in the round!

I will get to judging shortly!

3

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 18, 2020, 08:12:06 pm »

24 Hour Notice!

4

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 15, 2020, 06:25:29 pm »

In the future, when we've done all expansions we could continue with hypothetical crossover expansions, for example Adventures/Nocturne (night-reserve cards!), or Cornucopia/Hinterlands (when gain, if you have at least 5 differently named cards in play).

I just finished a set a little while ago called Dominion: Odyssey, which visits all the past sets and (most of the) mechanics. At first I thought those cards would fit perfectly for the theme of this thread, but then I realized that almost all of my cards overlapped sets. I think mixing expansions is super interesting, and it certainly opens up a lot of design possibility.

5

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 12, 2020, 10:14:11 pm »

Thank you to Xen3k for Judging! And congratulations to all the runners-up and submitters!

Contest round #4: Alchemy

I am actually quite excited to be judging this one, because I am one of those rare birds who enjoys this expansion.

The themes of Alchemy are Potion based cards and a focus on Action cards. Donald wanted to make cards that people would want multiple of since they were going to have a Potion in their deck - so lots of +Actions, cards that reward actions, and a Treasure that needs lots of cards to really shine. And apparently Herbalist. Hm.

I will be judging based on how well your card entices players to buy multiples, how it interacts with Actions (if it does), and I would also enjoy seeing ways in which your designs could make the Potion mechanic a bit more accessible.

I will give a 24-hour warning in 6 days and commence judging the following day.

Good luck to all designers!

6

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: October 08, 2020, 06:18:46 pm »

Port Inspector - $4 (Action - Duration)
+$2
At the start of your next turn, you may trash or gain to hand a card from your Island mat.
-
While this is in play, when you gain a card, put it on your Island mat.


Watch out! Your items are being checked at the port! If they meet the standards of our fair city, then you may have them; otherwise, they will be confiscated and destroyed. Even Smugglers get checked at this port.

A fun card that helps beat junking, while also letting your purchases always make the shuffle. Beware, however, that gaining too much at once will overwhelm the already busy Port Inspector, and he will only be able to give your items back one at a time - and he isn't always on duty! Granted, you may not actually want your victory cards at any point, in which case, the Port Inspector will keep them at the docks for later.

Also has fun interactions with Island, allowing you to reuse them, or set aside cards that you can have inspected later.

7

Dominion: Nocturne Previews / Re: Previews #2: Shepherd, Pooka, Cemetery

« on: October 24, 2017, 10:43:30 am »

Fun fact: With Cursed Gold you can now open Province Turn 1 with Baker or Borrow on the board.

If you have Baker and Borrow on the board, and two players buy Lost City before your turn, you could end up with 6 copper and a Cursed Gold allowing you to buy a Colony.

8

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Neat and potentially useful card interactions

« on: December 16, 2016, 02:13:45 pm »

Plan + Market Square

On weak BM boards this can be a strategy in and of itself. Just open Plan / MS and trash Estates and Coppers, gaining roughly one Gold at a time this way. Sometimes you'll get two! You should then be ready to green. Obviously this isn't that strong but it can work out OK if you're otherwise bored.

That puts the "potentially" into "potentially useful" for sure.

Well, there is a grain of usefulness there: Market Square basically "combos" with any self-trasher (as opposed to what beginners might assume was primarily a "reaction" to a trashing attack.) The only trouble with using Market Square with most trashers is getting them to match up in the same hand, whereas Plan doesn't have that problem, because you can always buy Plan when Market square is in your hand.

To a certain degree, a great many of the suggestions in this thread really represent basic synergies, and almost all of them have multiple possible replacements for one or more of the cards.

In a way, this observation simply belongs in the Market Square wiki article: It's a card that like self-trashers, some self-trashers are events such as Plan and Trade, eliminating the need for matching. If you're using it with a trashing action, refer to the article on...um...matchers? Is Dominion missing a term?

Is there a list of cards/strategies somewhere that can effectively get cards to meet up in the same hand without shuffle luck? I'm thinking this needs a separate thread. I'll go make one now.

I noticed this combo on a board a day or two ago and decided to go for it. I ended up winning on turn 14.

I think this combo is a little bit stronger than just MS+self-trasher for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you are more focused on trashing than the reaction, so you buy MS and trash even when you don't have MS in hand to gain gold with. Also, if you draw into double gold and MS, you buy two MS and trash two cards in hand even if you only gain one or zero gold for it. By the time you purchase the last MS, you'll probably gain three gold that turn if you want to. Then you green.

To double province each turn, you'll need to add a money-cantrip (I picked up a single conspirator), but even at one province per turn, you'll probably do alright. Maybe pick up Province/Duchy one turn if your opponent is working fast, too.

The fact that MS cost 3 and gives you a treasure producing 3 is excellent because you really just want to trash as quickly as possible, and this quality makes double trashing much easier.

Lastly, Plan is better than self-trashers in general because you only buy it once and get the effect multiple times, unlike Trade, Embargo, Raze, Pillage, etc.

In the game I played, my opponent didn't contest the MS pile, so I may have gotten a little lucky, but I still think this a very good combo.

9

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Dominion Cards Lists 2016 Edition: $3 Cards

« on: December 11, 2016, 11:25:28 pm »

Can somebody explain why Farmer's Market is good?  I'm in the same camp as Qvist and markusin.  I haven't played with it much, but it hasn't impressed me at all.

I've played Farmer's Market 7 or 8 times, and each time it performed beyond my expectations.  Sometimes you really want the +3$ or +4$, sometimes you really want the 4VP. Sometimes you want that VP multiple times, and the +Buy and large chunks of money help you in other ways.

I'm still a little bit weary of it because it doesn't read like a powerful card (especially since it starts as a half-Herbalist and Woodcutter), but the real power I've gleaned is twofold: how well you play it and how well you outplay your opponent. I played it in a game where I was falling behind once when my opponent skipped it, and cracking it for 4 VP twice was enough to clinch a victory by two points. That was a case where the +Buy and larger coin amounts were especially useful incidentally. In other games, wherein my opponent and I have both gone for them (which is the majority of games), being able to play multiple a turn (or none) to control what I get and what my opponent gets gives the card extra potency. Giving your opponent a bad Herbalist and Woodcutter while you get the Horse Traders, Wine Merchant, Distant Lands options is pretty stellar.

Against a better opponent, though, it probably comes down more to shuffle luck and how many you can play, which means you have to consider how much you really want to invest in a card that could backfire or how much you want to keep your opponent from getting the good parts of the card.

I ranked the card slightly higher than it is, somewhat because it has been personally useful, but also because I think it presents some really interesting tactical decisions. I'm definitely looking forward to testing it more.

10

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Dominion Cards Lists 2016 Edition: $0-$2 Cards

« on: December 05, 2016, 07:12:12 pm »

Based on its absence from #21-30, it looks like Save went up.  Very deserving!

yeah i have it at 11

I bought Adventures on release day, and I don't think I've ever played a game wherein Save was available and I didn't use it. The card is perpetually useful in numerous ways (saving money that you can't spend, making green miss the shuffle, holding one of your colliding terminals, getting Treasure Maps together, getting Prince and a proper 4-cost together, getting any Throne Room variant with the action you want it to multi-play together, and so on and so forth).
I actually ranked it 5, just behind the usual suspects. Maybe I'm biased, but the card does some work.

Settlers is weaker than Patrician

Definitely this. Settlers is more often cantrip+air than anything. Sure, its a 2-cost Peddler when it works, but that relies on not trashing all your Copper (which is hard in the late game) and not shuffling (which is hard in the early game). Patrician, meanwhile, can at least start hitting with some consistency once you've trashed a bit and purchased a fair share of 5s. Unfortunately, Patrician in multiples in a bit non-synergistic.
Both Settlers and Patrician are nifty $2 Labs when they work, but their situational abilities are trickier than they first appear. I would easily put Cellar above both (and did).

Travelling Fair is criminally underrated. Probably has something to do with the double L spelling variant.

11

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Relative strengths of 2 card combos

« on: December 03, 2016, 01:24:49 pm »

I actually think this list is highly useful, but perhaps that's just because I have a categorical mind. I like to have things listed out so that I can remember them better.

I completely understand the idea of new players not understanding the subtleties of the game, and yes their reliance on combos might hurt them short term, but let's face it, new players are going to make A LOT of mistakes. Understanding these combos, and card interactions in general is a huge step toward understanding Dominion outside of big money strategies. Maybe focusing on combos and ignoring the kingdom as a whole will lose them a few games, but that's more the process of learning than anything. In the end, I think it's better to be aware of the combos than to be demolished by them without ever seeing it coming.

Anyway, something that really stood out to me when looking over this list was the inclusion of Dungeon/Tunnel. Is it really better than Storeroom/Tunnel? Storeroom can discard as many as 8 cards per play, whereas Dungeon does 2 and 2. Granted, the +action is nice, and if you line up three or more it outweighs the discard power of a single Storeroom, but at the cost of a +buy and flexibility (as to how many cards you actually want to discard). Also, Storeroom doesn't mind greening as much because you can always sift to 2 Gold, 2 whatever and still Province.

I suppose the +action on Dungeon does allow you to sift faster after just a couple of extra turns, so you generate more Gold, but I was still surprised to see that combo on the list as I've yet to try it out.

However, this definitely brings to light what JThorne was mentioning about the necessity of eventually looking at combos outside of a vacuum. If Storeroom, Dungeon, Tunnel, and Lost Arts are on the table, I feel like I'm going for Storeroom with a +action. If there are any village variants, I might go for those, too, since the +buy makes it possible to pick them up without losing too much speed (especially if its Port!).

Just some thoughts. Great post!

12

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Dominion Cards Lists 2016 Edition: Ruins

« on: December 02, 2016, 06:00:22 pm »

As is apparently the case with most people, this is precisely the order I ranked the ruins.

I'm surprised as many as two people ranked Ruined Village higher than last. I'm guessing they play a lot of boards with Conspirator and Peddler. Maybe there's another reason. Either way, its extremely interesting.

Ruined Market on top makes sense simply due to the fact that sometimes you end up as the only person with a +Buy, and that can be the difference between winning and losing.

Abandoned Mine was a very close second for me because I have used it to great effect more often than I have Ruined Market. Nevertheless, a +Buy when no other is available beats a terminal copper on principle alone. Depending on your principles, of course. The real issue, though, is which do you want junking your deck if you already have +Buy? Well, in that case, I'd probably rather have the coin. So like I said, a close one, but in the end, I went with principle.

Survivors and Ruined Library were next for me, and as much as I love the phrase +1 Card, I decided that unplanned terminal draw is far too frightening. Therefore, I put the marginal usefulness of Survivors above the possibly?-but-maybe-not?-what-should-I-do? usefulness of Ruined Library. This one I could see going either way, that was just my thought process.

Looking forward to more results and discussion! 

13

Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Dominion Cards Lists 2016 Edition

« on: November 20, 2016, 04:12:29 pm »

Things I've learned from completing these three rankings:

1. Deciding my top X and bottom X cards is fairly easy, but everything in the middle is nigh impossible. I find myself caught in the loop of Card A > Card B > Card C > Card A over and over, and the loops even intertwine to the point that I am utterly baffled as to my own opinion. Nevertheless, I managed to rank them all by what I deem is "best" (most likely to earn you victory in the most possible situations), favorite (the criteria for which is somewhat less focused - something between how much do I enjoy playing this card, how much do I hate losing to this card, how amazing is it when someone actual wins with this card, and a sprinkle of inexplicable bias), and favorite art (a complete shot in the dark).

2. If I were to rank them all again right now, the lists would all look at least slightly different. And I am very happy about that. I enjoy the fact that at any moment, I could play a game of Dominion with a particular card and decide that it is, in fact, much better than I gave it credit for. Then later, I might decide that it really isn't that good after all. This seesaw effect of learning the power levels of particular cards through playing them in various kingdoms is what keeps Dominion at the top of my favorite games list. I have played literally thousands of games, read numerous articles and opinions, and I still feel the excitement of learning the game whenever I approach a new board.

3. Adventures is easily my favorite Dominion set.

4. Claus Stephan is easily my favorite Dominion artist.

I am thoroughly looking forward to the unveiling of the full lists, and would like to applaud Qvist for putting in the time to make this possible every year. This is my first time ranking, but I have enjoyed these lists for some time. Bravo, sir!

14

Dominion General Discussion / Re: New Promo Card

« on: November 17, 2016, 05:43:59 pm »

Any news on when this is going to be back in stock on bgg? I barely missed getting my copy, and I've been checking back constantly to no avail. 

I don't know, but I believe BGG has some system whereby they will email you when a thing you want comes in. You would have to do your own research there, or recruit someone else to do it, but I am pretty sure they have such a thing. Which means of course that when it does show up, a bunch of other people will be instantly alerted.

Thank you, good sir. I'll look into that.

15

Dominion General Discussion / Re: New Promo Card

« on: November 15, 2016, 09:01:08 pm »

Any news on when this is going to be back in stock on bgg? I barely missed getting my copy, and I've been checking back constantly to no avail. 

16

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Any Gossip About Fall 2011 Expansion?

« on: November 11, 2016, 02:00:20 pm »

I thought it was odd that someone decided to necro this topic, but it was worth reading just for this.

So this may just be my limited vocabulary speaking, but is there a reason "Hinterlands" got the nod over "Frontiers" or some other more common synonym?

- David Bowie - Red Sails

I sing that song in my head everytime I think of this expansion. Occasionally out loud.

17

Dominion General Discussion / Re: McGarnacle's Dominion Musings

« on: November 06, 2016, 09:47:44 pm »

Why does Bandit get punished by the Bandit Fort for bringing in Gold?

I once set Princess aside with Prince cause I thought they were destined to be together, but he just played her over and over again.

18

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dominion and Intrigue second editions

« on: November 06, 2016, 05:13:49 pm »

I've played a few games with Sentry, and I think the card is amazing. You definitely want it as early as possible to increase your chances of hitting the cards you want out of your deck, but he still works late by allowing you to dump green cards off the top. Twice, I even used his ability to put cards back in order to keep my engine going and still draw into payload (I switched Gold and Lab when I only had one cantrip left in hand).

19

Rules Questions / Re: Inheritance and Cornucopia cards

« on: May 07, 2016, 12:22:43 am »

It's also worth noting that Inheritance doesn't copy price. So if you manage to get Peddler down to $4 or less, Inherit it, then trash your Estate/Peddler to Bishop, you'll only get 1 VP; trash to Apprentice, you'll draw two cards; trash to Salvager, you'll get $2; etc.

20

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Base Set Cards: Bureaucrat

« on: April 22, 2016, 03:10:06 pm »

This happens to be one of the very few cards, along with Masquerade and Cutpurse, that can theoretically create an infinite pin against your opponent.

This is a very difficult pin to create since the five Bureaucrats you play to pin your opponent(s) also put five silver on your deck. You could play them after a discard attack, but that's still tricky. KC some Schemes could help, and newer cards like Gear, Expedition, Hireling, and Guide could definitely help out. Watchtower makes it much easier.

Basically, my goal at this point is to pin someone with Bureaucrat. I don't play to win - I play to pin. (Which, generally leads to winning, but that's beside the point.)

I appreciate the inspiration, Gendolkari.

21

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Adventures Events: Save

« on: April 20, 2016, 08:12:31 pm »

Save also works well with Treasure Map to guarantee collision. Played this on a random board yesterday that included Baker. Opened double Treasure Map, saved a Map on turn three, cracked them on turn four. Profit.

22

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Does Rats enable Develop?

« on: March 17, 2015, 01:53:43 am »

I played on a board were I was able to Develop Rats into Ill-Gotten Gains and Develop, and then I Developed the IGG into Gold and Rats. Don't know how good it was, but I had a blast doing it.

23

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Remodel/Vault category - let's give it a name!

« on: March 09, 2015, 04:11:44 pm »

I like soft terminals. So that's what my "something else" vote goes to.