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Messages - Diving Pikachu

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1
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Band of Misfits
« on: July 05, 2013, 06:04:23 pm »
It might be interesting if you had several Band of Misfits in the same pile, all with the same text, but different prices, ordered in increasing order.

Maybe this?

Quote
$4, $4,
$5, $5, $5, $5
$7, $7, $7, $7

Or maybe have the cost of the card depend on how many are left, for a Trade Route-esque progression?

2
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Debasement
« on: July 05, 2013, 05:59:04 pm »
Each other player gains a Copper. If he has no more then 5 cards in hand, he puts it in his hand.

That achieves more or less what I was going for. A bit of stackability, but it runs into none of the exploits that others have brought up. Brilliant!

Debasement ($5)
Action-Attack

+$2
Each other player reveals a treasure from his hand costing from $2 to $5, and puts it on his deck (or reveals a hand with no such cards). Then each other player gains a Copper. If he has no more then 5 cards in hand, he puts it in his hand.

***

Anyways, can anyone comment on the balance of this card?

3
Variants and Fan Cards / Debasement
« on: July 01, 2013, 11:21:18 pm »
Debasement ($5)
Action-Attack

+$2
Each other player reveals a treasure from his hand costing from $2 to $5, and puts it on his deck (or reveals a hand with no such cards). Then each other player gains Coppers into his hand until he has 6 cards in hand.
***


Here I use "debasement" in terms of currency; ie, the lowering in quality of a coin.

Although it has an immediate effect on opponents' hands, oftentimes it won't negatively affect their next play. It usually targets Silvers, Bureaucrat-ing them and replacing them with two coppers. If the attack "misses" a $2-5 treasure, then it actually adds $1 to the opponent's hand. If the opponent has previously been the victim of a hand-reducing attack, Debasement might actually give them $3 on their next turn (but gum up their deck with a whopping 3 coppers). I guess this will be stronger against special treasures like Venture, Loan, Fools Gold, and Quarry, as the delay of their use can be more hurtful than the delay of a silver.

4
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Why is Curse a base card?
« on: August 17, 2012, 05:35:36 pm »
Thanks for the reply, but it's obvious to everyone that's played more than a couple of games of dominion that Thief was never intended to be anything more than a trick. You admitted in your post that "copper isn't too hot", so why would a card with the primary function of trashing your opponents copper (and allowing you to gain it) ever have any chance of being a good card?

Dude. Thief can be a fearsome card, especially in games with heavy trashing. Its very presence in a Chapel game makes me reconsider my usual Chapel strategies very carefully. If you've got a trim deck and your economy is treasure-based instead of action-based (a very possible scenario; Minion won't be in every kingdom, after all), you can witness the very swift obliteration of your buying power as your opponent thieves away your Golds, Platinums, Horns of Plenty, or Spoils. Thief's interactions with Ill-Gotten Gains also shouldn't be underestimated. It can give you more chances to curse while disrupting the IGG-Curse-Duchy 3-pile early ending that often happens with the presence of IGG in a kingdom. And as WanderingWinder has pointed out, Thief's power scales up during multiplayer. My advice: Listen to WanderingWinder. And Theory. And Donald X.

Quote
Is this what you wanted to design? A card for experienced players to secretly laugh at new players who'd dare think it was a powerful card? It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Thief, despite being weak, is a trashing attack, which is the most hateful kind of play, and I can't imagine people getting any delight out of it being played other than the aforementioned in joke that comes with understanding how the game works.

"The most hateful kind of play"? What does that even mean? And I must wonder whether you truly have "understanding" of "how the game works" if you think Thief's "primary function" is "trashing your opponents copper". Sure, opening with Thief is a pretty bad idea, but that doesn't mean it will always be doomed to have a "primary function" of trashing copper. Dominion is so flexible and variable that you can't predict a card's role in all kingdoms with such broad language.

5
Dominion: Dark Ages Previews / Re: Dark Ages initial report
« on: August 17, 2012, 12:17:37 am »
I have friends at GenCon, and I forgot to give them to cash to pick up Dark Ages. Did you see if they had a method for taking cards? And would just looking up "Rio Grande Games" be able to direct someone to the right place?

Also, how much did you get it for? On Amazon there's a bit of a difference between list price and what they were selling it for. If it's list price then I might as well wait.

6
Dominion Articles / Re: The Fourth Ending Condition
« on: May 29, 2012, 02:15:27 am »
I would say the fourth ending condition is when a player is so discouraged that he resigns. This can happen with extremely good/bad shuffle luck, or with a brutally constant barrage of the same attack(s) over and over. Or G/KC/M.

7
Game Reports / Cursing Ambassador
« on: April 15, 2012, 09:44:26 pm »
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/15/game-20120415-182948-5e65a158.html

I had fun with this one even though my opponent wasn't much of a threat, even after my inopportune 5/2 opening and his successful Treasure Map on turn 8.

I was drawing my entire hand with SP, so on turn 12 I bought a curse and a second Ambassador. Gave him all 10 curses by turn 17, and used SP to shuffle them in as quickly as possible.

When I started doing this, he insulted me:
20:24 Rodric: lame strat.. and not very sucessful at that

But he soon resigned.

8
Game Reports / Re: Very lucky boy...
« on: April 13, 2012, 06:58:03 pm »
He just said that to me as well, after losing!

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/13/game-20120413-155404-a2d2ca41.html

Seriously, what does one expect with 3 Thieves and a Workshop?

On a tangential note: Secret Chamber was really useful here, both as a counter to thief, and to keep my economy going once I was drawing my whole deck with a whole bunch of redundant draw actions.

9
Game Reports / Re: How lower level players view Possession
« on: April 12, 2012, 02:45:47 pm »
Someone got mad at me for getting Possessions in a game where both of us went with Alchemist. King's Court was involved as well. Yes, it was brutal, but I had left myself just as vulnerable to Possession as he was. Really, I think if you're sure your opponent is going to get Possession, it's remarkably easy to counter with aggressive, early greening.

Oh wait. I remembered that wrong...

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120408-180733-bd68d0da.html

It was a Black Market game where I got the TR, KC, Possession, Margrave, and Young Witch via BM, while he only got Nomad Camp, Goons, Noble Brigand, and Jack. Wow, that was harsh. But he bought a City and a second Potion early on, and always bought copper with his Goons when he got the chance. So he was playing suboptimally anyways.

10
Game Reports / Monstrous Black Market/Tactician
« on: April 12, 2012, 02:36:53 pm »
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/12/game-20120412-113023-5e10860d.html

With a side of using Hamlet to set up Menagerie and Watchtower:

Quote
— cornucopoo-ah's turn 22 —
cornucopoo-ah draws 5 cards and gets +1 action and +1 buy from the Tactician.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Wharf.
... ... drawing 2 cards and getting +1 buy.
... and plays the Wharf again.
... ... (cornucopoo-ah reshuffles.)
... ... drawing 2 cards and getting +1 buy.
... and plays the Wharf a third time.
... ... drawing 2 cards and getting +1 buy.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Market.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
... and plays the Market again.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
... and plays the Market a third time.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Market.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
... and plays the Market again.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
... and plays the Market a third time.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Hamlet.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 buy.
... and plays the Hamlet again.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 buy.
... and plays the Hamlet a third time.
... ... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 action.
... ... discarding 1 card and getting +1 buy.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Goons.
... ... getting +1 buy and +$2.
... ... Lighthouse provides the dobrinest immunity to the attack.
... and plays the Goons again.
... ... getting +1 buy and +$2.
... ... Lighthouse provides the dobrinest immunity to the attack.
... and plays the Goons a third time.
... ... getting +1 buy and +$2.
... ... Lighthouse provides the dobrinest immunity to the attack.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Menagerie.
... revealing an Estate, a Black Market, a Silver, a Venture, a King's Court, a Lighthouse, a Gold, and a Copper.
... drawing 3 cards and getting +1 action.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Lighthouse.
... getting +1 action and +$1.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Black Market.
... getting +$2.
... drawing a Mint, a Woodcutter, and a Remodel from the Black Market deck.
... playing a Gold, 2 Silvers, and 2 Coppers.
... playing a Venture.
... ... revealing and playing a Silver.
... cornucopoo-ah buys a Woodcutter.
... ... getting +1 ▼.
... ... revealing a Watchtower.
... ... putting the Woodcutter on the deck.
... returning a Mint and a Remodel to the bottom of the Black Market deck.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Watchtower.
... drawing 4 cards.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Market.
... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action, +1 buy, and +$1.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Woodcutter.
... getting +1 buy and +$2.
cornucopoo-ah plays a King's Court.
... and plays a Black Market.
... ... getting +$2.
... ... drawing a Navigator, a Trade Route, and a Coppersmith from the Black Market deck.
... ... cornucopoo-ah buys a Trade Route.
... ... ... getting +1 ▼.
... ... returning a Navigator and a Coppersmith to the bottom of the Black Market deck.
... and plays the Black Market again.
... ... getting +$2.
... ... drawing a Trader, a Talisman, and a Moneylender from the Black Market deck.
... ... cornucopoo-ah buys a Moneylender.
... ... ... getting +1 ▼.
... ... returning a Trader and a Talisman to the bottom of the Black Market deck.
... and plays the Black Market a third time.
... ... getting +$2.
... ... drawing a Bureaucrat, a Mint, and a Remodel from the Black Market deck.
... ... cornucopoo-ah buys a Bureaucrat.
... ... ... getting +1 ▼.
... ... returning a Mint and a Remodel to the bottom of the Black Market deck.
cornucopoo-ah plays a Tactician.
... discarding the hand (2 cards).
cornucopoo-ah buys a Fairgrounds.
... getting +1 ▼.
cornucopoo-ah buys a Fairgrounds.
... getting +1 ▼.
cornucopoo-ah buys a Fairgrounds.
... getting +1 ▼.
cornucopoo-ah buys an Ironworks.
... getting +1 ▼.
cornucopoo-ah buys a Copper.
... getting +1 ▼.
(cornucopoo-ah reshuffles.)
(cornucopoo-ah draws: a Mining Village, 2 Fairgrounds, an Island, and a Tactician.)

My next turn looked pretty similar, and ended also with a use of Tactician.

11
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dominion with all cards available
« on: April 11, 2012, 10:19:17 pm »
Perhaps there should be a rule that, once 10 different kingdom piles have been gained from (minus Young Witch), all other kingdom cards are out of the game. That way the 3-pile finish is still doable.

12
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Anime Dominon; huhwhat!?
« on: April 03, 2012, 07:26:06 pm »
Just for reference about the card choices. One can only imagine they thought there were balance issues, or something, or otherwise couldn't fit in relevant cards for them?

Perhaps they were just choosing whatever would fit their established characters the best? I saw somewhere else that Chancellor (another unexciting card) was represented by a stupid character, because the near-uselessness of putting your deck in the discard is remniscent of what that character would do.

And on a completely different note (but in the same post to avoid spamming): There's a promo card already! It's Apprentice without the reference to potion costs:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/653799/ok-what-is-this-card-its-not-in-my-set

13
Dominion General Discussion / Anime Dominon; huhwhat!?
« on: April 03, 2012, 07:05:45 pm »
http://lthemachine.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/more-official-animud-versions-of-dominion/

To be honest it's a bit refreshing to see alternative design solutions for Dominion cards. The original design works fine, but its use of Times New Roman is too grave of a sin for me to let stand. And that's not even mentioning how overloads of text are so poorly dealt with... The way Trade Route and Horse Traders almost touch the top and bottom of the box makes me cry with claustrophobia. And the overall approach in presentation is a bit overly conservative and undynamic.

That being said, as I look through the Touhou-themed deck, it really rustles my jimmies to see waifish, big-eyed, supernatural school girls, mikos, and maids standing in for Dominion cards:
http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1006986/touhou-shisouroku-touhou-koumakyou-hen

It also makes me wonder if the folks at Hobby Japan knew what they were doing when they decided to include Thief and Bureaucrat in its "base set", and Explorer in its expansion, but left out Throne Room and didn't include Chapel until its expansion:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/642213/list-of-the-cards-including-what-dominions-they-c
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/760430/touhou-youyoumu-expansion-cards-listing

I can't say much for the other 2 rethemes since there isn't much out there about them that's written in English.

14
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Expansion - Dominion: Piston Town
« on: March 30, 2012, 12:53:48 am »
Quote
I would tighten up the wording here. And this is definitely not an attack (see Tribute). And unless you're playing multiplayer, or everyone's flush with Gold and/or Platinum, I don't think this is good enough to be a terminal $4, as the best you'd hope for is a silver.
Eh? This is totally an attack. It works similarly to Thief, but instead of stealing a treasure from each player, you pick and immediately play one of the revealed treasures.

Each opponent ends up with two cards from the top of their deck placed into their discard pile. This is a blind and unbiased discard, so even if an oponent is prevented from using an important action or treasure, it is only accidental. Therefore, there is no intentional harm to your opponents, so it is not an attack. Look at Tribute, Smugglers, and Possession--but especially Possession. None of them are attacks. Tribute discards 2 cards and derives its benefits variably from whichever cards are revealed. This is essentially the same as your card, minus the fact that it is concerned only with the classification of the revealed cards instead of their specific power. Smugglers and Possession freeload off the power of an opposing player's deck and the presence of specific cards. But not even Possession, as intrusive and infuriating as it is, is a direct attack--you are given a fresh, full turn after your own, after you've been hijacked by the Possessor. Prospector is a treasure-targeted Possession. It is nothing like Thief, which can easilly cripple the buying power of a Chapel-trimmed deck.

15
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Battlegrounds
« on: March 29, 2012, 12:45:33 am »
Quote
Guerrilla
$3 Action-Attack
+$2
For each other player, you may choose a card from their discard pile.
They shuffle it into their deck.

I would word the text as "Look through each other player's discard pile, and choose one card for each player. They shuffle the chosen card into their deck." I know it's not exactly the same effect as yours, since it's no longer optional, but that was the most elegant wording I could think of. You would risk helping your opponent if all they had was good cards in their discard. In any case, this has good potential for slowing down other players' engines, while not being such a direct attack.

Alternatively, perhaps Guerrilla could top-deck or bottom-deck the chosen card instead. To me that seems more elegant and direct than shuffling. Although the accumulated effect of multiple alternate Guerrillas would be far too disruptive... Perhaps it needs the Sea Hag solution.

Quote
Pillager
$3 Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player must gain a curse, or reveal their hand and discard all Victory cards.

Comments: Useless in some games.

This certainly is useless in most games.

Quote
Collapsed Mine
$4 Victory-Treasure-Reaction
$1
2 VP
When another player plays an attack, you may discard this.
When you discard this other than during a Clean-up phase you may reveal it.
If you do, trash a treasure from your hand. Each other player gains a copper.

Interesting reaction, but I think that allowing it to also be discarded during a non handsize-reducing attack is too much. Even if there were only Spies or Bureaucrats or Oracles being used, everyone would be swimming in coppers by turn 12.

Quote
Horse
$4 Treasure
$2
When you discard this during your Action phase, you may reveal it.
If you do, play it immediately.

Vault and Secret Chamber would turn this into a Gold, essentially. Minion and Tactician would make this a "+1 Action +$2" Action card, essentially--which is a Minion whenever you don't use it to attack. And discard-cards-for-more-cards cards would make this a Minion that draws you an extra card as well. With all this considered, I would price this at $5, if not $6.

Quote
Consolidate
$4 Action-Duration
+1 Action
Set aside any number of victory or curse cards from your hand.
At the start of your next turn:
Draw a card for each card you set aside.
When you clean this up, discard the set-aside cards.

Comments: Like a Cellar, but if you can time the reshuffle this is good.

You should allow the player to set aside any cards that they decide they don't need, and would like to possibly miss the reshuffle.... It could make for an interesting, flexible pseudo-Tactician. In which case it would need to be non-terminal, and cost $5.

Quote
War-torn Village
$4 Action-Reaction
+1 card
+2 action
Discard a card

When another player plays an Attack card, you may 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.

Comments: Horse Traders variant, obviously. I'm afraid it may be OP without the discard, though now it may be a little weak.

It's just fine without the discard, IMO. On the player's turn, its still a vanilla Village, and those are very weak.

Quote
Stockpile
$5 Victory
Worth 1 VP for each card name you have at least 5 of.

Comments: Likely very situational.

Unfeasible in multiplayer. Yet still intriguing for 2p.

Quote
Counterfeit
$5 Treasure
+$1
The player to your left reveals their hand. If they reveal any treasures,
choose one, +$x where x is half the value of the chosen treasure, rounded up.

Comments: A venture variant. Silver, Gold, and Platinum give their proper value.
The dependence on the opponent's strategy may make this too unfavorable.

You need to think of how to account for IGG, Fool's Gold, Talisman, Quarry, Potion, Philosopher's Stone, and Bank. You could have it generate half of the coins that a single play of the chosen treasure would create if you played that treasure yourself in that moment of your turn... but how could you word such a command?

Quote
Retreat
$5 Action
+$2
You may trash an Action card from your hand. If you do, +2 VP tokens.

Comments: Likely to thrive in the same environment as with Vineyard.

Workable, I guess.

Quote
Fortification
$5 Victory, Green-backed
4 VP
When you reshuffle, you must place Fortifications on top.
If a card is played that will reveal this from your deck,
you may place this in your discard immediately.

Comments: Late game Duchy alternative. The last condition might make the
drawback too weak in practice.

This creates a fundamental rule change outside itself, so you need to word the card accordingly:

"In games using this, when a player reshuffles, they must place any Fortifications on top of their deck."

Plenty of revealing effects will discard the revealed cards afterwards, anyways, so I don't think it would affect the drawback too much. But the drawback itself is pretty weak anyways, especially during the late game where you might not even see your next reshuffle, which is when you'd be picking up Duchies in the first place. Perhaps you need some sort of restriction during buying.

Quote
Siege(v1)
$5 Action-Duration
+1 card
+1 action
Next Turn: +1 VP token. During clean-up, if you played a Siege this turn, you may leave this in play.

Siege(v2)
$5 Action-Duration
+1 card
+1 action
Next Turn: +1 VP token. Whenever you play a Siege, +$1.

Comments: The idea is to pace your sieges. Which one do you like better?
Should it be $6 in either case? If one gets a slick engine with a majority of these, time will run out fast for the other players, which is thematically correct but of course that's no excuse for making it OP.

This would slow the game far too much.

Quote
Strategic Position
$6 Victory
When you gain this, +3 VP tokens
1 VP

Ok, if a bit boring.

Quote
Capital
$6 Victory-Action
Set a Victory card from your hand onto the Island mat. If you do, +1 VP token.
2 VP

Comments: I guess it's kind of like taking Bishop and tacking on 2 VP, like Nobles and Harem.
You won't want as many though. If it's too weak, maybe:
Set a card on the Island mat: If it's a Victory card, +1 VP token
If it's a Treasure, gain a Silver
If it's an Action, gain an Action card costing at most $1 more than it.

Interesting, but needs to be playtested for sure.

16
Dominion Isotropic / Re: Decline of civility on isotropic?
« on: March 28, 2012, 11:20:13 pm »
A strange exchange:

Quote
16:04 Vermont: Howdy
16:05 Vermont: Greetings
16:07 Vermont: Bonjour
16:08 Vermont: Guten tag
16:09 Vermont: Aloha?
16:10 Vermont: You do realize you are playing a person and not the computer, right?
16:11 cornucopoo-ah: i've never encountered a bot on isotropic....
16:11 cornucopoo-ah: have you?
16:11 Vermont: oh good, you are just rude then
16:11 Vermont: Good to know  :)
16:12 cornucopoo-ah: not talking is not rude
16:12 Vermont: Actually, it is. I can't imagine you completely ignoring someone that says hello to you.
16:13 Vermont: There are solitaire apps online that may be a better fit for you.

I eventually get the upperhand, and he starts playing very slowly...

Quote
16:21 cornucopoo-ah: Are you lagging or do you have some difficult decisions to make?
16:21 cornucopoo-ah: Or is there something else preoccupying you?
16:21 Vermont: slow playing is not rude
16:32 cornucopoo-ah: Langsames Spielen ist nicht unhöflich?
16:35 cornucopoo-ah: You were going so slow I had the chance to make you resign.
16:36 Vermont: Yup; doing other stuff.
16:37 cornucopoo-ah: I see the button right now.
16:37 cornucopoo-ah: You have ten seconds to press something
16:38 Vermont: lol. Why on earth would you want this to go longer? I'm just doing other work and delaying as long as I can.
16:38 Vermont: I figure we should both be rude.

We went on for a bit before he eventually disconnected.

17
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Expansion - Dominion: Piston Town
« on: March 28, 2012, 07:46:49 pm »
Quote
Femme Fatale $5
Action - Attack

+1 Card, +1 Action

Discard a card. If you do, each other player discards an Action card from his hand (or reveals a hand with no Action cards).

I'm surprised no one has commented on this one. If your opponent is an engine player, this is a cantrip Torturer with no cursing option. Chain it with a handsize-increaser like Lab and you have a really not-fun pin.  Which will, of course, just encourage everyone to play big money when this is on the board.

Perhaps the card discarded to activate the attack should be an Action as well. It would encourage the Femme Fatale user to load up on $2 or $3 Actions to sacrifice if there are plenty of buys, while someone ignoring FF would be ahead on $5 or $6 actions. If there aren't that many buys, then a FF user could justify having a higher density of terminals so any excess could be sacrificed.

18
Well, on a board so hurting for +action, Harvest is out, especially as it will be outclassed by Platinum in vying for Colonies. I'd only consider Sea Hag to Farmland into Grand Markets, but then I'd have to be really committed to ending the game early on Provinces. Also, I'd definitely skip Chapel here. Sure, you will eventually get some semblance of an engine going with Tacticians and Hunting Parties, but this board won't net you the sleek engines that make it worth opening Chapel. Farmland may be crucial for eking out an extra Colony or two from your Platinums when your buying power starts to lag from greening.

I'd open Masquerade/Silver, aiming for Mountebank, then Hunting Parties and Tactician (I know there's a clash between these two, but I got a feeling that Tactician turns could really give an edge, especially boosted by HP). Strive for the Grand Markets (which, upon second thought, Harvest would be really good for)...

19
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Expansion - Dominion: Piston Town
« on: March 28, 2012, 02:47:03 pm »
There are also Border Village and Ill-Gotten Gains games, where it gets used to send a card with an on-gain benefit back and forth.

It wouldn't really be that useful with BV.  Why would you send BV back just to buy it again?  You have $6 in hand.  Keep the BV you have and buy whatever you want outright (or a second BV if they are still in supply).

It also wouldn't be useful with IGG.  If IGG remain in supply, you can buy outright without returning one.  If IGG are all gone, curses probably are too -- why return it to re-buy it when the on-gain won't do anything?  Although there may be those cases when IGG runs out before Curse due to reactions or Ambassador.

Why do you talk of buying? This action lets you gain the new card. And with Border Village, you can replace the BV in your hand with a newly gained one, which gains you a free $5 card, just by playing a $2 cantrip. Having BV in your hand basically turns Replace into a nonterminal, reusable Feast, especially since you get the BV back into your hand. But even if it gained the replacement BV into your discard, I'd probably still use it. And if there were powerful $6's on the board, I'd consider swapping out a few BV's with them instead, as, in that specific situation, it's basically like playing a nonterminal Mine that only works on Villages. Replace would be brutal with IGG, as well. Play Replace, send off IGG, get it right back into your hand, and curse everyone for free, just playing a $2 cantrip. It would make whoever opens 2/5 unbeatable.

So, as already established by others, Replace would be incredibly strong in games with Highway, IGG, and BV, and could be a good asset in Swindler games, but otherwise, it is useless.

20
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Expansion - Dominion: Piston Town
« on: March 27, 2012, 11:22:42 pm »
My overall advice to you: Quality over quantity. Look for the unique essence of each card that you create, and do any revisions necessary to bring it out, instead of trying to give a name and a cost to every gimmick that you can think of.

Quote
Telescope $2
Action - Reaction

+1 Action

Look at the top 5 cards of your deck, then put them back in any order.
______________________________

When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, draw until you have 8 cards in hand, then put cards from your hand on top of your deck until you have 5 cards in hand.

A majority of the time, this won't make any net effect, even though sometimes one might use it to avoid dead draws of actions. At least Navigator gives coin and the option to discard all the revealed cards. The reaction is also problematic. Giving the player 8 cards to choose from instead of 7, this reaction is strictly better than Secret Chamber's in the vast majority of cases (barring previous plays of Governor or Council Room). What's more, it heavily penalizes any non-hand reducing attacks. Especially terrible for the attacker would be playing a non-hand reducing attack when the attackee has less than 5 cards, giving them a free restoration of their hand, picked out of 8 cards (which is almost like a free play of Warehouse, minus the discarding aspect). It would definitely skew the game too much.

Quote
Drunkard $2
Action - Attack

Each player (including you) reveals the bottom card of his deck and either discards it or puts it on top, your choice.

This is only negligibly different from Spy, barring the lack of +1 card, +1 action. Spy itself is a very underwhelming card with a weak attack and a low chance of being beneficial. It's not a card that needs a copy, much less a cheaper, terminal imitation that becomes more of a liability to your deck than anything else. Even if it costed $0 I would ignore it.

Quote
Luxury Tax $2
Action

+$2

Trash this. Put a Tax token on top of a Supply pile.

Each card cost $1 more per Tax token on its pile.

This would have interesting interactions with trash-for-benefit cards, but overall, I think this card is fundamentally flawed. It's liable to make games become unbearably drawn out, and can very easily make them almost unfinishable. Just three plays of this could make Provinces cost the same as Colonies, permanently, which wouldn't be very fun in a game without Platinum or other Prosperity cards. At least with Embargo, you're running out the Curses, which pushes the game closer to finishing. And with trashers on the board, people won't terribly mind buying something with 1 or 2 Embargo tokens on them. Plus there are workarounds when you gain without buying.

Quote
Aerial Crank $3
Action - Reaction

Choose one: +3 Actions; or +1 Action and +2 Buys.

When you discard this from play, you may put it anywhere in your deck.
______________________________

When you discard this other than during a Clean-Up phase, you may reveal it. If you do, set this aside, then at the start of your next turn, put it in your hand.

You probably have reasoned that, since this card is only giving actions or buys, it's a harmless enough card to make so sticky, able to play multiple times per reshuffle. I would agree if this were an alternative Prize, since we'd only be dealing with one copy, but things could get very screwy very quickly when there are multiples in a deck. This is just too easily abused by discard-for-benefit and discarding-as-the-mitigator cards. Also, this would need a differently-colored back like Stash has, since its location is a publicly-available datum that shouldn't be obscured by bad memory. You might be able to salvage the reaction for something else, however.

Quote
Saloon $3
Action

+$1

Discard any number of Action cards from your hand. +$2 per Action card discarded.

Overpowered without a doubt. And it essentially turns actions into silvers, which makes for a boring strategy not much different from Big Money.

Quote
Gate Watcher $3
Action - Reaction

+1 Action

You may reveal a card from your hand. If you do, return it to the Supply.

Each other player reveals his hand. For each Attack card revealed, +1 Card.
______________________________

When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this. If you do, you may reveal a card from your hand. Return the revealed card to the Supply or put it on the top or bottom of your deck.

This shouldn't be so dependent on Attacks for its main effect. Plus, the two components of the main text are just too disjointed and may as well be separate cards, since together they don't create any overall effect. And returning the the supply is a bad idea that will only slow the game down. Ambassador gets away with it because it distributes those very same returned cards to everyone else.

Quote
Runaway Train $3
Action - Attack

Each other player discards down to 3 cards in hand. For each card he discarded from hand, he discards that many cards from the top of his deck.

You shouldn't be able to open with the equivalent of two Militias. That would ruin any game from the start. And since it gives no benefit to the attacker, it will only make games long, drawn-out, and not very fun. (eg: You've been Runaway Trained so your hand is RT, copper, copper. You play RT on your opponent so their hand is RT, copper, copper. Rinse and repeat). Sea Hag costs $4 so it can't be opened double, and it eventually loses firepower when curses run out. The free deck-cycling that this gives to opponents doesn't have any purpose, either.

Quote
Scoundrels $3
Action - Attack

Reveal a card from your hand. Each other player discards a copy of that card from his hand (or reveals a hand with no copy of that card).

You shouldn't be able to cockblock powerful cards so easily. Cutpurse only targets coppers, and handsize-reducing attacks let players choose to keep their best cards. And even if you Masquerade someone's 3-card hand, they still get to choose what they give you, and you have to give them something in return. Also, this card would make the last player in multiplayer stand no chance.

Quote
Prospector $4
Action - Attack

Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. If they revealed any any Treasure cards, you play one of them of your choice. They discard the other revealed cards. Any treasure cards you play this way are set aside and returned to their owners’ discard piles at end of turn.

I would tighten up the wording here. And this is definitely not an attack (see Tribute). And unless you're playing multiplayer, or everyone's flush with Gold and/or Platinum, I don't think this is good enough to be a terminal $4, as the best you'd hope for is a silver.

Quote
Outlaw $4
Action - Reaction

While this is in play, when you would gain a card, you may immediately discard this. If you do, each other player gains a copy of that card instead.
______________________________

When another player uses a Reaction card, you may discard this. If you do, that Reaction card is immediately discarded and has no effect.

First of all, I would say "activates a reaction", for when someone uses the reaction mechanic of a Reaction card. Second of all, this is a terrible idea. Punishing a player for activating a reaction by first nullifying it and then (figuratively) slapping it out of their hand won't make the game any funner, it will only make people refuse to buy even interesting reactions like Tunnel, Fool's Gold, or Trader. Reactions which nullify the harm of Attacks will not completely disincentivize the use of attacks since the Attack usually has some benefit for the attacker. Even if there's a strong attack on the board, Moat is not always a wise choice, especially since you harm your deck if you load up such a weak action. Trying to cockblock it with something like this is overkill. And the ability to take someone's Watchtower away when they use it to top-deck a card would be awfully.

Well, analyzing those 10 cards have left me a bit drained; I'll come back to the rest if I feel like it.

21
Game Reports / Re: Is this a viable strategy
« on: March 27, 2012, 08:09:22 pm »
I would've gone with Militia, as it definitely hampers the ability to play a useful Ambassador turn. I'm surprised your opponent tried to curse you with Ambassadors on such a board, as that's only a good idea if you can consistently cycle through your deck. And you missed a good opportunity with Trader, there. It's the best counter to Ambassador, yet you bought none. Plus, it would've made your deck so dense with silvers that Stash would've been completely irrelevant (though Stash is crap most of the time anyways).

22
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Hidden Village: an after-the-fact village
« on: March 27, 2012, 03:09:40 am »
This is an old post from a different thread, but I think it's relevant enough:

A pure Reaction (not labeled as also an Action) reverse-order village:

Pilgrim Camp $2
(Reaction)

If you draw a card during your action phase, you may reveal and discard this card. If you do, +1 Action.

***

It's missing the +1 card that would make it a closer mirror of Village, because such a card would be too often better than Village, as you could never draw it dead, but this wouldn't be a very exciting $4 village. Plus, we have too many of those already. I want another $2 village, as those inhabit much more unique design spaces. Obviously, this needs drawing power on the board to work at all, but even a single +1 card can trigger it.

23
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Courier
« on: March 27, 2012, 12:49:34 am »
Sorry if anyone sees bumping a dead thread as breach of etiquette, but it would be quite silly to make a whole new topic for a simple update:

It turns out this card just isn't as sexy as I once thought. This card only reaps worthwhile benefits when you delay plays of expensive (and usually crucial) actions/treasures--and players are really averse to the risk involved in sending these prized assets to the bottom of the deck, just to gain weaker cards in return. In this case, a bird in the hand really is worth two in the bush. So many attacks and deck-interacting cards can make players miss draws of the deck-end "parcels" which Courier accumulates. This card definitely flounders in the presence of Minion, Rabble, Jester, and sometimes even Pirate Ship. Masquerade is also a huge liability. So far, I'm not sure if it's being underrated or if it's just underpowered. Perhaps I should consider a variation that lets you gain cards worth +$1 to the card you send to the bottom of the deck?

Courier $6 (Even Newer!)
(Action)

+1 Card
+1 Action

You may reveal 1 Action or Treasure from your hand. If you do, gain any card costing no more $ than it does, and place both cards at the bottom of your deck.

***

This makes $5 villages a lot more relevant, especially when a powerful $5 terminal is on the board. But if all the $5's are terminals--even strong ones--then the liability of almost guaranteed clashing terminals would be an interesting obstacle. If you've got this situation plus Chancellor on the board, then Chancellor actually becomes pretty useful. Courier 3.5 would definitely accelerate City rushes, especially since unactivated Cities are merely the equivalent of Villages; sending a City in your hand to the bottom of the deck, in order to get another one, is not a hard decision at all... Courier 3.5+Scheme+IGG+good deck cycling would probably ruin friendships.

I'm a bit worried about Courier 3.5 + Lab... There's absolutely no downsides to a nice cache of Labs at the bottom of the deck. I'm not so worried Courier 3.5 + Minion, however. Minion's a strong, spammable nonterminal $5, but an opponent could easily Minion away your own bottom-decked Minions before you get a chance to use them. Highway would gain no benefit whatsoever from this card, either.

Anyways, the presence of this card would definitely encourage Duchy rushes. It would enable them by depleting piles ands providing a means to grab Duchies. It won't make Provinces any easier to get except with Peddlers or Platinums in play.

24
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Expansion- Justice and Piety
« on: December 01, 2011, 01:12:44 am »
Museum's idea is fantastic. Definitely something I'd want to playtest. I wonder if the activated Museum is a bit too powerful, however.

25
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: The Seven Deadly Sins - Mini-expansion concept
« on: November 30, 2011, 12:09:40 am »
Sounds like you're on the right track. As a writer, when something that I've worked on fails, I find myself either scrapping the whole thing altogether (if it's bad enough), or abandoning an idea or detail that I had previously thought to be fundamental to the work. I guess making Dominion fan cards also involves moments where you have to kill your own babies. But don't regret having made up bad cards and putting them out there for us to critique, since you hopefully still gained something out of this experience.

- Axe Greed (the card), and rename Lust to "Greed."  This version of Greed will gain Treasure for all Victory and Curse cards in your hand.

Do you mean that it will gain you a Treasure card(s) based on how many Victory or Curse cards in your hand? Because if it still uses the old idea of generating Coins, that is something completely different.

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