172
« on: July 17, 2011, 05:46:01 pm »
A new age has entered your kingdom -- the age of rail. New technologies allow travelers to make their pilgrimages much easier than before. Large quantities of materials and other goods can be transported at once, thanks to these beautiful, heavy-duty machines. Of course, all of this convenience comes with new costs. It's no longer enough just to buy improvements to your infrastructure -- they need to be fixed, updated, protected from those obnoxious vandals... And that's just the beginning. A foolish leader will invest in the wonders of the rails without considering what is needed to use them well. You're not that foolish... are you?
In other words, I'm working on a train-themed fan expansion with utilizes resource management as the primary mechanic. Yes, I know a lot of the rail transport-based card names will not fit in with the more medieval setting of Vaccarino's official originals, but whatever.
Originally, Locomotion was just a Treasure-card-based half-expansion, but I decided that that was too much like Prosperity, so I modified the cards I've been working on to fit the resource management idea a bit better. You'll still see some of my earlier thoughts in the card drafts I show you. Anyway, many of the cards will include some added cost beyond the initial buying price. Hopefully, the designs of these cards will allow for wise players to utilize these extra costs and show just how powerful they can be.
Each card idea will have the general concept I'm aiming for in parentheses afterward, along with edit history. I still need lots of playtesting done to make sure these are priced right and not too game-breaking at any price. Anyone who wants to help on their own is certainly free to do so.
BANDITS
---
Set aside up to two Treasure cards from your hand. If you do, each other player reveals cards from his deck until he reveals a Treasure card. They trash the revealed Treasure cards, then discard the rest. You may gain any trashed copies of the set aside cards. Trash the set aside cards.
--
Action/Attack - $4
(Concept: A more targeted version of Thief, but with a bit of a caveat added to keep the power level down.)
(Still debating the price of this card. It's similar to Thief, with the bonus of almost always hitting a Treasure, but the detriment of needing to trash your own card(s) to do so, not to mention only gaining copies of said card(s). Still, you could trash two Coppers easily with this card. What do you think?)
CABOOSE (New Version)
---
Reveal your hand, then immediately play all Treasures in your hand in any order. Buy a card.
-
While this is in play, if you have no Golds in play when you buy a card this turn, gain a Gold.
--
Action - $5
(Concept: Hopefully a good card for getting quick Gold power that quickly turns less than ideal once you actually want to play said Golds. Needs more testing for sure.)
(Edit 1: Added a single word to nerf this baby a bit. Just to clarify, each Caboose in play only gets you one Gold per turn.)
(Edit 2: I still want this card to allow a player to gain multiple Golds per turn, provided they have no Golds to play. Therefore, I added a mechanic that forces play of all Treasures in your hand.)
COAL MINE
---
+1 Buy
When you play this, it's worth $1 for each token on your Coal Mine mat.
-
(Setup: During your Cleanup phase, if you have 0 Buys and at least $3 remaining in play, put a token on your Coal Mine mat.)
--
Treasure - $6
(Concept: A potentially powerful Treasure that requires quite a bit of setup to get that power. The question is, how do I balance this card out so that it is neither too easy to make stronger than Gold, nor so restrictive that it's not worth trying for?)
(Edit 1: Added a +1 Buy to the card, and added that you must have this card in play to get the token. Now I'm worried that it's too weak.)
(Edit 2: Removed the necessity to have the card in play.)
CONDUCTOR
---
$2
Each other player may reveal a Victory or Curse card from his hand. If he doesn't, he may discard a Treasure card from his hand, then gain a Curse, putting it into his hand. If he doesn't, he discards his hand.
--
Action/Attack - $5
(Concept: I've wanted to see if there was a way to have a full-discard attack without it being too powerful, as well as a card that makes Chapel decks less all-powerful. This card hopefully fulfills both roles.)
(Edit 1: I've been worried about the Treasure-discard attack and how it might be too much in 3-4P games or with TR/KC, so I added the Ticket.)
(Edit 2: Got rid of the Ticket, just made it a good old Curser, and added the Curse blocking power to the card.)
COUCHETTE CAR (NEW!)
---
Reveal your hand, then discard all of the non-Treasure cards from
your hand. Draw until you have seven cards in your hand. Each other
player may reveal a Victory card from his hand. If he does, he draws
until he has six cards in his hand.
--
Action - $5
(Concept: The set's Library variant, and I also wanted to add some more interaction. The bonus to other players won't usually be so great, at least when you compare it to the guaranteed +1 Card from Council Room. It could be much better when Militia'd with a Nobles you keep in your hand, but that's not very likely...)
DEPOT VILLAGE
---
+1 Card
+2 Actions
You may put a Victory card in your hand on top of your deck. If you do, +$2.
--
Action - $4
(Concept: Since every set needs a Village card, here's mine. Sort of like a self-imposed Bureaucrat.)
FUNICULAR
---
+2 Cards
You may discard a Treasure card costing at least $3 from your hand. If you do, +3 Cards.
--
Action - $4
(Concept: A Smithy-like card that can be more powerful if one is willing and able to pay the additional cost, but rather weak otherwise. So far, really only playtested against Smithy with Big Money decks, and Smithy has won every game. Expecting it to get much better with Villages.)
HANDCAR
---
+1 Card
+1 Action
Each player (including you) may trash a card from his hand, then draw a card if he does. If any other player trashes a card, +$1.
--
Action - $3
(Concept: Originally, a card that becomes stronger in games with more players, since I believe this game needs to encourage larger games. Apparently, people don't like that. Anyway, this card is still better in larger games, but not to such an insane degree this time.)
(Edit 1: Added the ability to have the player trash a Treasure, but to no added benefit.)
(Edit 2: Removed most of the scaling issues, as well as the Treasure-only mechanic. It's still more powerful in larger games, but hopefully not ridiculously so. Also added the $1 if opponents trash and draw.)
JUNKYARD
---
+1 Action
+1 Buy
+$1
You may convert 2 Actions, 2 Buys, or 1 Action and 1 Buy into $1.
--
Action - $2
(Concept: A way to put those extraneous Actions and Buys to better use.)
(Edit 1: Added the +1 Action, so that the card by itself isn't completely useless. Now, with no other Actions in play, this basically becomes a $2 Silver that requires an Action to play.)
MANIFEST (Second New Version)
---
+1 Action
You may immediately play up to two Treasure cards from your hand.
You may spend $2 you have in play. If you do, +2 Cards.
-
If another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal and discard this card from your hand. If you do, gain a Manifest token. Manifest tokens can be returned to the supply for $1 at any time.
--
Action/Reaction - $3
(Concept A: A card where you must spend coins in play to use to its fullest potential.)
(Concept B: A reaction card that gives you extra coinage.)
REPAIRS
---
+1 Action
Return a card from your hand to the supply. Gain a card costing the same as or less than the card trashed, putting it into your hand.
--
Action - $4
(Concept: Originally just a way to trade away crap cards for some instant gratification. Now, I can see a strategy of trading a high-cost card for something of the same or lesser value that will better allow you to use other cards in your hand. For example, got two Torturers but no Village cards in your hand? Repair one into a Bazaar or Worker's Village or something.)
(Edit 1: Instead of trashing, the card is now returned to the supply.)
STEAM ENGINE
---
If this card is played as an Action, +$3.
-
If this card is played as a Treasure, $1.
--
Action/Treasure - $5
(Concept: Since there hasn't been an Action/Treasure yet, this is my attempt at one. Why Steam Engine? Because to me, steam engines are so cool that they don't need to be in action to be worthwhile, but are obviously better when in action.)
TERMINUS (New Version)
---
Set aside a card from your hand onto your Terminus mat.
-
At the end of the game, this card is worth 1 VP for every Victory card on your Terminus mat. Trash all cards from your Terminus mat.
--
Action/Victory - $5
(Concept: The set's requisite big VP card. Yes, it's very Island-like, but whatever. Also, to clarify, any Terminus cards on the mat are not worth any points themselves, because they are returned to the deck AFTER your deck's Termini are valued.)
(Edit 1: Terminus-mat cards are now trashed, but you can put other cards on the mat to trash at the end of the game. I might add points for multiples of non-Victory card.)
Feel free to share your thoughts on yet another fan's attempt to get in on the creativity of this fantastic game.
