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1

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Contest week 9: too COOL for school

« on: May 06, 2021, 12:59:06 pm »

My Submission:

ICE HOUSE        ACTION + per Ice token on one Frozen card you have (your choice). This is gained Frozen with 5 Ice tokens.

A Poor House variant, this provides terminal money in variable amounts. If you Buy them at regular intervals, they can both be the source of the Ice and the mechanism to cash in on it. But if it's the only card with the Frozen mechanic, should they run out, you could end up stuck with a lot of dead cards (and the last one you buy will never be useful).

Small wording suggestion: instead of "This is gained Frozen with 5 Ice tokens", you could use "When you gain this, freeze it with 5 ice tokens" (or "freeze it 5 times" or whatever language). I think it's a little easier to read and it's more clear to me how it interacts with other alternative gains/when-gain triggers.

I like the concept either way!

2

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: More Dominon Fan Card Ideas

« on: May 03, 2021, 04:58:40 pm »

I love Gambling Hall. It might need an "each" at the end, if as you say it can grant +4VP in a two-player game.

3

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Any tips for tracking IRL cards played?

« on: April 12, 2021, 01:05:55 pm »

One option: The Jack of all Dominion app has a Blacklist feature. You can tick off any number of cards that you've played with that way, then use the rest to randomize a new kingdom.

You'll need to download the app (free) and manually enter the kingdom into the online client. I already use the app sometimes just to ensure that I don't get a boring kingdom (the app makes it easy to customize kingdom components or simply get rid of problem cards).

4

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #109: Raise the dead.

« on: March 23, 2021, 01:52:49 pm »

Gary??

5

Dominion General Discussion / Re: How would you rank the Dominion kingdoms?

« on: February 22, 2021, 12:47:49 pm »

I don't believe you can buy Guilds and Cornucopia separately anymore. If you play with only 1 expansion at a time, I agree that the smaller expansions aren't great for variety in that regard. You might try combining those and see if you enjoy them together, though they don't have any particular inter-set synergy that I remember.

I also think it's interesting that you didn't find Menagerie beginner-friendly. Anecdotally, my friends found it easier to grok most Menagerie cards over e.g. Adventures/Empires cards. Any clarification there, out of curiosity?

6

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Venus, a fan expansion by Carline

« on: February 09, 2021, 04:49:58 pm »

I love the simplicity of this. What if your Laboratory also trashed a card, kind of like Junk Dealer (another 5-cost), but you could pass it to the next player strategically if you were going to end the game or had only Provinces in hand.

My only concern is that it feels too powerful for a 5-cost card, which is a shame given its simplicity. This is an amazing card to pick up in a 5/2 opening, and is still really good through the end of the game. One comparison here is Cathedral, which is a very strong project where the benefits of strong trashing usually outweigh the drawbacks. Cathedral is cheaper, of course, but you can also avoid playing Nomad or can pass it to your opponent late in a turn if you want, where Cathedral is mandatory at the start of your turn.

I wonder if a version that costs more, or had some additional restriction that made it more likely to move to the next player, would be more balanced. Not sure! This screams "test it in some random kingdoms" to me. Nothing inherently wrong with a strong 5-cost card.

7

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Set Expansion Contest

« on: January 26, 2021, 06:55:20 pm »

VERDANT DELL - $5
Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Discard any number of cards for +$1 per two cards discarded (rounded up).
Heirloom: The Cheese

THE CHEESE - $5
Treasure
$2
When you buy a Card, if this is the only Treasure you have in play, +2VP.
(This is not in the Supply.)

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t qualify because of the need for VP tokens.

My bad. If its not too late I would like to submit this one instead:




Cask of Amontillado - $4
Treasure
$2
+1 Buy
-----------------
When you gain this, you may Trash an Action card you have in play.

Two small things.

Utterly pedantic formatting change: you don't need to capitalize trash in the middle of a sentence.

Avoiding hard-to-track effects: consider trashing only non-Duration Action cards from play. I believe only Bonfire can directly trash Durations from play, but this can cause tracking issues as the Duration effects still occur.

8

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #102: Unspent

« on: January 23, 2021, 05:05:30 pm »

EDIT: I didn't realize that there is only one copy of Bear Market/Bull Market. In that case, may I suggest:

If you don't have Bear Market or Bull Market, take it. Otherwise, flip it over.

This wouldn't work (or rather, this changes what the Event does), as the State is meant to be flipped every time. Who has the State when it's not being flipped does not matter, and taking it shouldn't cost an extra buy. I originally wanted it to just sit next to the Event, but the rules (as I read them) don't permit this.

I looked at Misery when I was doing the wording. My only concern with the way you have it is that it might be a bit confusing. It is not entirely clear that "Bull Market" and "Bear Market" are a single, two-sided State. Thus, it is not self-evident from the text what the "it" in "take it" or "flip it over" is. A player might go looking for the other Market, or think they have a choice.

It is not entirely clear that Bull Market and Bear Market are a single, two-sided State when posted here on the forums, but I think it would be obvious to someone taking the physical cards out of the box, similar to Fool/Lost in the Woods, or the Artifact cards.

If the state is to be flipped every time, I think you can word it as simply "If you don't have Bear Market or Bull Market, take it. Flip it over."

Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. 

9

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #102: Unspent

« on: January 22, 2021, 01:30:18 pm »

Yes! There have definitely been times where I have ended up with lots of Buys and little money and wished there was some card/landscape/mechanism that would let me convert one to the other. (This probably says more about my ability than about the game's design, but still...)

Originally it was just an event (called Buying Power) that cost $0 and gave +$1, but I think that is too good a trade (or rather, it makes some cards like Market Square too good). This is how I tried to make a Buy worth approximately $0.5.

Here is the Event:



And the two-sided State it comes with:





BUYING POWER
Event
$0
If you do not already have it, take the State called Bull Market or Bear Market; whether or not you took it, flip it over.

BEAR MARKET
State (side 1)
Setup: In games using Buying Power, place one copy of this on the table with this side up.

BULL MARKET
State (side 2)
When you flip this over to this side, +$1.

Wording suggestion for Buying Power, using Misery ("If this is your first Misery this game, take Miserable. Otherwise, flip it over to Twice Miserable.") as a template:

If this is your first Buying Power this game, take Bear Market. Otherwise, flip your Market state over.

There may be a way to make the names make more sense, or make the "Market state" term more clear, but that reads better to me.

EDIT: I didn't realize that there is only one copy of Bear Market/Bull Market. In that case, may I suggest:

If you don't have Bear Market or Bull Market, take it. Otherwise, flip it over.

10

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Review of Rivalries (an old fan expansion I made)

« on: January 14, 2021, 10:49:05 am »

Haunted Shop is a great concept. Extra buys, but at what cost?

I might suggest a different wording to avoid the ambiguities of "using all your Buys". Something like "At the start of Clean-up, gain a Copper for each of your unused Buys." But that's academic.

Tumble is cool too. I might switch to "At the start of Clean-up" instead of "At the end of your Buy phase" but otherwise it reads (correctly) as an interesting Count-esque card.

11

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Why assume full random kingdoms with fanmade cards?

« on: September 12, 2020, 07:56:16 pm »

It seemed more appropriate to separate this into a different thread, but this is quoted from the weekly card design contest:

...then a substantial number of games will be without any trashing (~1/5 I think), and then the part most important for this challenge is useless. On the other hand, most games will have a trasher of any sort...

There's no reason to assume full random kingdoms when talking about fanmade cards. Why do people do that?

Because the game Dominion itself is designed for full random kingdoms. I could ask a similar question, why assume everyone starts with 10 cards in their deck when discussing fanmade cards?

A card designed without full random kingdoms in mind isn’t a Dominion fan card, it’s a Dominion spin off fan card.

Those two scenarios aren't equivalent. The manuals include designed kingdoms. IRL tourneys often use designed kingdoms. Donald X. generally only tests/plays with a couple expansions at once, if I recall correctly.

Designing a fan card that is completely irrelevant without a specific other kind of card is not great, of course. If it is simply a passable, niche card that becomes significantly more interesting if matched with a specific other kind of card, well, that's fine. Plenty of official cards do this.

12

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Urbanisation

« on: September 11, 2020, 12:20:15 pm »

I like the simplicity of each of these cards.

I wonder if Lease should be cheaper, or have a secondary effect that isn't dependent on trashing Estates. Moneylender, in the absence of other trashing, will continue to do something for many shuffles. The probability of Lease doing something after trashing even one Estate goes down significantly.

Lease could be more similar to Baron, granting you the option to gain Estates and/or providing +Buy. It could be cheaper: perhaps a 3-cost Lease that allows you to also grab a 4-cost in the opener. (Optionally it could grant less +$ in this case.)

13

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Urbanisation

« on: September 09, 2020, 04:51:51 pm »

Handler
Action -

+1 Card
+1 Action
--------------------------------------------------------
Setup: Set aside 3 Ways face up. These Ways are available to be used this game when you play Handler.

Another possible wording: "On turns when you play Handler, you may use these Ways." This is actually a buff (means you can use Ways on non-Handlers on the same turn) but reads more clearly to me.

I think that manipulating below-the-line text to allow Handler to use the Ways without expressly stating "you may play this as a Way" above-the-line is the right thing to do, regardless of exact wording.

The problem with that wording is that "on turns when you play Handler" isn't clear; it sounds like if you were going to play Handler at any time during the turn, then it should work for that whole turn. I assume what you really mean is that it works from the time you play Handler until the end of turn. It could basically be something like this:

Handler
Action -

+1 Card
+1 Action
--------------------------------------------------------
While this is in play, the set-aside Ways are in the game.
--------------------------------------------------------
Setup: Set aside 3 Ways face up.

When you play it the very first time, it's already in play before you are following any instructions, so you could choose to use one of the Ways immediately instead of the +1 Card +1 Action.

TWO below-the-line effects? The madness!

(Makes sense to me. I do think "on turns when you play Handler" is clear enough for Dominion-ese, but hey.)

I think that manipulating below-the-line text to allow Handler to use the Ways without expressly stating "you may play this as a Way" above-the-line is the right thing to do, regardless of exact wording.

Handler has the “play the Ways” clause above the dividing line to mirror the way Druid is worded. A lot of people have questioned why Handler has a cantrip option in the first place and I’m finding myself more and more agreeing with them. I may attempt a non-cantrip one.

The verbiage for "taking" and "receiving" a Boon is well-defined; the verbiage for "playing this as a Way" is only a shorthand (that the online client uses) as far as I know, and is not well-defined. That's why the original wording feels strange to me.

14

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Urbanisation

« on: September 08, 2020, 03:22:47 pm »

Handler
Action -

+1 Card
+1 Action
--------------------------------------------------------
Setup: Set aside 3 Ways face up. These Ways are available to be used this game when you play Handler.

Another possible wording: "On turns when you play Handler, you may use these Ways." This is actually a buff (means you can use Ways on non-Handlers on the same turn) but reads more clearly to me.

I think that manipulating below-the-line text to allow Handler to use the Ways without expressly stating "you may play this as a Way" above-the-line is the right thing to do, regardless of exact wording.

15

Dominion FAQ / Re: How long do your games last?

« on: August 20, 2020, 03:48:54 pm »

Yeah, some games simply move more slowly than others. I play 2 and 3 player games IRL and they take probably 60 minutes, but we're often chatting at the same time and none of us are particularly great at the game.

16

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: August 18, 2020, 03:11:02 pm »

Thanks to you both. Interesting stuff!

17

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: August 14, 2020, 04:00:49 pm »

In recent expansions you've tried to keep the card text at its normal size, which can mean simplifying or finding alternate wordings for some cards.

How can you tell whether card text will fit on a given card? Do you have any particular strategies for simplifying or rewording in order to make text fit?

18

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Really bad card ideas

« on: July 23, 2020, 10:46:46 pm »

Ascended Village - $3
Action
+1 Card
+2 Actions
------------
Setup: After choosing kingdom piles, shuffle them all together into a single face-down kingdom deck, then put the top 5 cards of that deck face-up into a line-up. Whenever a card leaves the line-up, replace it with the next card in the kingdom deck. If a card would return to a kingdom pile, instead shuffle it into the kingdom deck. Treat the kingdom deck as a single pile and the line-up as not a pile for the 3-pile game-ending condition. If the kingdom deck runs out of cards, the game ends at the end of that turn.

I too like Star Realms. 

19

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: A Dozen of Custom-made Cards

« on: June 23, 2020, 03:25:11 pm »

Formatting suggestion: put the paragraphs of explanation next to the picture of the card. I find myself scrolling back and forth a lot on a large monitor; I can't imagine trying to make comments on a laptop or phone.

Some brief thoughts:

Ballroom: I wonder if this alternative wording is clear enough: "You may set aside up to 2 Action cards from your hand. Play one of them twice, then play the other twice." At least, I assume this is the intent: if Ballroom sets aside Village and Smithy, you must either play Village-Village-Smithy-Smithy or Smithy-Smithy-Village-Village, not e.g. Village-Smithy-Village-Smithy.

Hops: I wonder if "At the start of your next turn, +$1 if this is still in play" would read better. As written, I wasn't originally sure if it would stay in play until next turn, a la Gear with no set-aside cards. (To be clear, I think it does from a rules perspective, but it isn't as obvious as it could be.)

Might come back for some more feedback, but in general I like these cards. 

20

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Really bad card ideas

« on: March 23, 2020, 11:22:07 pm »

Underline
Cost: $5

+$2
-----
This has any abilities below horizontal lines visible on Supply cards.

21

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Really bad card ideas

« on: March 23, 2020, 11:19:55 pm »

(cut for space)

Ok, yeah.  That is the worst card idea ever.  /thread

I'm going to take that as a compliment, I think.

Most of the abilities work, it would just... take a very very long time to resolve.

Some of them are contradictory, though...

This is gained to your hand (instead of your discard pile)
This is gained to the top of your deck (instead of your discard pile)

You get to... pick? I suppose that's how that would work.

One of those could leave. There are a few other instructions that I think are hard/impossible to trigger but I left in for fun, like "take the VP from the Hold The Line Supply pile" and "Worth 1VP per Castle you have" and the various Setup phrases.

(cut for space)

How long did that take to type?

I scanned the All Cards link for horizontal lines, copied most of them into a text document, sorted them alphabetically, then moved some sections around to logically orient them. Maybe 30 minutes total.

22

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Really bad card ideas

« on: March 23, 2020, 06:28:57 pm »

(cut for space)

Ok, yeah.  That is the worst card idea ever.  /thread

I'm going to take that as a compliment, I think.

Most of the abilities work, it would just... take a very very long time to resolve.

23

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Really bad card ideas

« on: March 23, 2020, 06:05:24 pm »

All The Way
Way

(Once per turn)
If your deck and discard pile are empty, gain a Rosanna Yeah.


Rosanna Yeah
Victory
Cost: $0*

6 VP
(* - Not in the Supply)

I see your Toto reference and raise you a really bad card idea. You know all those horizontal lines?

Hold The Line
Action - Reaction - Victory - Looter - Castle - Doom - Fate - Traveller
Cost: $8*

+1 Card
+1 Action
--------------------------------------------------

Code: [Select]


When you buy this:
[list]
[li]+1 Buy.[/li]
[li]gain another Hold The Line.[/li]
[li]trash all Treasures you have in play.[/li]
[li]trash a card from your hand and gain a card costing exactly $2 more than it.[/li]
[li]you may overpay for it. For each $1 you overpaid, gain a Silver.[/li]
[li]you may overpay for it. For each $1 you overpaid, look through your discard pile and put a card from it onto your deck.[/li]
[li]you may overpay for it. For each $1 you overpaid, look at the top card of your deck; trash it, discard it, or put it back.[/li]
[li]you may overpay for it. If you do, gain 2 Action cards each costing the amount you overpaid.[/li]
[/list]

When you gain this:
[list]
[li]+2 Coffers.[/li]
[li]+2 Villagers.[/li]
[li]gain a Gold.[/li]
[li]gain a Gold per Hold The Line you have in play.[/li]
[li]gain 2 Ruins.[/li]
[li]gain 2 Coppers.[/li]
[li]gain a cheaper card.[/li]
[li]gain a Duchy or 3 Estates.[/li]
[li]gain another Hold The Line (that doesn't come with another).[/li]
[li]Exile a Gold from the Supply.[/li]
[li]each other player draws a card.[/li]
[li]each other player gains a Curse.[/li]
[li]each other player gains a Silver.[/li]
[li]receive a Hex.[/li]
[li]take a Boon. Receive it now or at the start of your next turn.[/li]
[li]trash up to 4 cards from your hand.[/li]
[li]you may trash a Copper from your hand.[/li]
[li]take the VP from the Hold The Line Supply pile.[/li]
[li]if you have at least 5 Action cards in play, +2VP.[/li]
[li]put all Treasures you have in play onto your deck in any order.[/li]
[li]reveal your hand. +1VP per Victory card in your hand and/or in play.[/li]
[li]put it into your hand, +1 Action, and if it's your Buy phase return to your Action phase.[/li]
[li]look through your discard pile, reveal any number of Action cards from it (which can include this), and shuffle them into your deck.[/li]
[/list]

When you gain this during your turn, gain a Gold, and each other player with 5 or more cards in hand puts 2 cards from their hand onto their deck.

In games using this, when you gain a card costing $3 or more, you may exchange it for a Hold The Line.
In games using this, when you gain a Duchy, you may gain a Hold The Line.

This is gained onto your deck (instead of to your discard pile).
This is gained to your hand (instead of your discard pile).

When you gain or trash this:
[list]
[li]take the Flag.[/li]
[li]+1VP and gain a Silver.[/li]
[li]+1 Coffers and +1 Villager.[/li]
[li]gain a Silver; if it is your Buy phase, put the Silver on your deck, otherwise put it into your hand.[/li]
[/list]

When you trash this:
[list]
[li]+1 Card.[/li]
[li]+3 Cards.[/li]
[li]gain 3 Silvers.[/li]
[li]gain a cheaper card.[/li]
[li]gain a Duchy or 3 Estates.[/li]
[li]gain a Gold.[/li]
[li]gain an Attack card.[/li]
[li]put it into your hand.[/li]
[li]you may discard an Action card, to gain a Ghost from its pile.[/li]
[/list]

Instead of paying this card's cost, you may trash an Action card from your hand.
During your Buy phase, this costs $2 less per Action card you have in play, but not less than $0.
This has the same cost as the last other card gained this turn, if any.
You can’t buy this if you have any Coppers in play.

While this is in play:
[list]
[li]Action cards cost $2 less, but not less than $0.[/li]
[li]cards cost $1 less on your turns, but not less than $0.[/li]
[li]when another player plays an Attack card, it doesn’t affect you.[/li]
[li]when you buy a card, +1 Coffers.[/li]
[li]when you buy a card, +1VP.[/li]
[li]when you buy a card, gain a cheaper non-Victory card.[/li]
[li]when you buy a non-Victory card costing $4 or less, gain a copy of it.[/li]
[li]when you buy a Victory card, gain a Gold.[/li]
[li]when you gain a card, you may put that card onto your deck.[/li]
[li]when you gain a card, you may put that card onto your deck.[/li]
[li]when you gain a Victory card, +1VP.[/li]
[li]when you play a Silver, you may trash a card from your hand.[/li]
[/list]

At the start of Clean-up, if you have this and no more than one other Action card in play, you may put this onto your deck.

When you discard this from play:
[list]
[li]if you didn’t buy a Victory card this turn, you may put this onto your deck.[/li]
[li]if you didn’t buy any cards this turn, trash this and gain a Madman from the Madman pile.[/li]
[li]if you have a Potion in play, you may put this onto your deck.[/li]
[li]take 6D, and then you may pay off D.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Champion.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Disciple.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Fugitive.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Hero.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Soldier.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Teacher.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Treasure Hunter.[/li]
[li]you may exchange it for a Warrior.[/li]
[li]you may put one of your Treasures from play onto your deck.[/li]
[/list]

When you discard this other than during Clean-up, you may reveal it to gain a Gold.
When you discard this other than during Clean-up, you may set it aside, and put it into your hand at end of turn.

When another player gains a Victory card, you may play this from your hand.
When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck.

When another player plays an Attack card:
[list]
[li]you may first play this from your hand.[/li]
[li]you may first discard this to gain 2 Silvers, putting one onto your deck.[/li]
[li]you may first reveal this from your hand, to be unaffected by it.[/li]
[li]you may first reveal this from a hand of 5 or more cards, to draw 2 cards then discard 3.[/li]
[li]you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, +2 Cards, then put 2 cards from your hand on top of your deck.[/li]
[li]you may first set this aside from your hand. If you do, then at the start of your next turn, +1 Card and return this to your hand.[/li]
[/list]

When one of your cards is trashed, you may discard this from your hand to gain a Gold.
When something causes you to reveal this (using the word "reveal"), +1 Coffers.
When this is your first buy in a turn, gain a card costing up to $4, and each other player gains a copy of it.

When you gain a card, you may discard this to put that card into your hand or onto your deck.
When you gain a card, you may play this from your hand.
When you gain a card, you may reveal this from your hand, to either trash that card or put it onto your deck.
When you would gain a card, you may reveal this from your hand, to instead gain a Silver.

When you play another Attack card with this in play, you may first trash this, to gain a Mercenary from the Mercenary pile.

Worth 1VP per Estate you have.
Worth 1VP per Castle you have.

Setup:
[list]
[li]Each player gets +1 Coffers.[/li]
[li]Put the 3 Zombies into the trash.[/li]
[li]Add 1D to each Supply pile. When a player buys a card, they take the D from its pile.[/li]
[li]Add an extra Kingdom card pile costing $2 or $3 to the Supply. Cards from that pile are Bane cards.[/li]
[li]Add a Coin token to each Victory Supply pile; move that token to the Hold The Line mat when a card is gained from that pile.[/li]
[/list]