I've done more work on the cards I already posted, and brainstormed a few more. Here they are, with a little commentary from me.
Reworked cards:
Alloy: $4P Treasure.
Worth $3P.
Somewhat dull, and shares almost nothing with other version, but I enjoy having cards other than Potion that give P.
Engineers: $2P Action.
+2 Actions, flip your journey token. If it is face-up, gain a card costing up to $5 and put it in your hand.
My first game with Engineer showed it to be very overpowered. One particularly brutal problem was that once a player reached a tipping point, they could use Engineers to gain more Engineers and play them, snatching up most of the pile in one turn. A Potion cost prevents that, and should make them harder to spam. Engineer now costs as much as University, which sounds about right. It doesn’t gain components as quickly, but more than makes up for that by letting you use them immediately.
Excommunication: $4 Action-Attack.
+1 Action, +1$. Each other player gains a curse. Each other player may trash a card in their hand.
If there are more cards in the trash than in the supply, trash this and gain an Interdict
Interdict: $0* Action-Attack
+1 Action, +2$. Each other player gains a curse from the trash
The only real change here was the price. I might consider moving the cost back to $3 and taking away the action, depending on which version is more fun.
Help: $2+ Action
+1$. Trash a card from your hand
You may overpay for this. If you do, when you draw your next hand, trash a number of cards equal to the amount you overpayed.
It turns out that the original version of Help, although interesting, had a potential infinite loop problem with a +1 Card token and Fortress. Although I have kept the “card that replays itself” mechanic below, I don’t think Help is the right card for that. I gave it a handsize-reducing but more accurate and affordable version of Doctor’s effect, which should allow it to play a useful role in openings. I don’t know how different it really is from the Doctor effect, though.
New Cards:
Abbey: $4 Action
+1 Card, +2 Actions
When you gain this, trash a card from your hand
Village with a built-in trashing token. Sounds all right to me! Note that the trashing is mandatory, which could be a problem if you thin quickly and need Abbey as your main village for an engine.
Apparition: $5 Action-Attack-Duration
+1 Card, +1 Action. Each other player may discard a card costing $0. If they don’t, they gain a Ruins.
On your next turn, all Attack cards cost 2 less
Apparition is a variation on the Cultist/Torturer model of a super-stackable effect. Although an optional Cutpurse certainly isn’t the worst attack on the market, it gets quite vicious when stacked. Note that Ruins themselves can be discard fodder for an Apparition, and that only playing one every other turn should slow it down. However, the discount on the 2nd turn means that picking up more Apparitions is quite doable, and other attacks are always welcome…
Aquaduct: $5 Action
+2 Cards, +1 Action, +$2. Discard two cards
Originally, this only gave +1$, and was intended to be a sort of Peddler variant. I think the $5 price point deserves something a little nicer. Most vanilla card in the set.
Highwayman: $5 Action-Attack
+1 Buy. Every other player gains their -1$ token.
While this is in play, when you buy a card, gain a spoils.
It has less in common with Highway than I’d hoped. However, I thought the name went particularly well with the mass Spoils collection. I am still unsure of this card’s overall efficacy. On one hand, high money density means that that extra +buy can pick up better cards. On the other hand, too many spoils could slow your deck to a crawl.
Indentured Village: $3 Action
+1 Card, +2 Actions. If there are 3 Indentured Villages in play, return them to the Supply and gain 3 Silvers.
Village + cards are typically priced at $4 or higher, and defective Villages are priced at $2. Indentured Village is very nicely on the line between those. Although gaining three Silvers can be very good, the simultaneous loss of three villages will utterly implode any engine that relies too heavily on Indentured Villages. Note that the Villages are returned to the supply, and not simply trashed. This gives you the option of gaining them back. A very strong engine might be able to use the Indentured Village effect to its advantage, gaining large quantities of payload at exactly the right moment. I suspect this will be a high-skill card.
King in Exile: $3 Action
+1 Card, +1 Action. Gain a Ruin and play it 3 times.
Incredibly swingy, but it seemed like interesting Ruin interaction.
Laborer: $3 Action
Gain a Silver. You may discard two Coppers. If you do, play this again.
Discarding two cards instead of one does a good deal to prevent the infinite loop from +1 Card tokens. Laborer is a straightforward Silver Flooder, converting copper into still more Silver. I am curious about how it will compare to Masterpiece, but it doesn’t seem to be either obviously better or obviously weaker. I think the replay mechanic works better here than on Help, especially given the fact that many decks don’t want so much Silver.
Pariah: $4 Action-Reaction
Trash this. Play it as if it were an Action in the Supply costing up to $5.
When a player (including you) trashes a card, you may discard this. If you do, gain a card costing up to $2 more than the trashed card.
I’d been very attached to this reaction after Appraiser kicked the bucket. Pariah is something of a reverse Band of Misfits combined with Feast, which makes it reasonably useful in its own right. The added reaction gives it a flexibility and versatility that should make it appealing on a high number of boards. Note that the trashing comes before the copying, in order to prevent Fortress shenanigans.
Patron: $4 Action-Duration
Now and at the start of your next turn, choose one: gain a Spoils, take a coin token, or take a VP token.
Straightforward merger of elements from several expansions.
Plantation: $5 Action
Discard any number of cards from your hand. For each Action you discard, +$2. For each Treasure, take a coin token. For each Victory card, +1 buy.
Not a lot to say about this one. I hope you like it.
Revolutionary: $3 Action-Reserve
+1 Card, +1 Action. Put this on your Tavern Mat.
When you play a Revolutionary, you may call this from your Tavern Mat. If you do, +1$, and each other player with 4 or more cards in hand discards a card.
“Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?” I care a good bit about theme when I make these cards, and Revolutionary does a great job in that regard. The Revolutionaries are sent to prison one by one, until they finally escape and seize control of the city. I created this card to round out a few perceived gaps in the set (Reserves, cantrips, $3 costs) and I think it turned out pretty well. I especially like that it’s a Reserve card called by other copies of the same card!
With that, I have some requests on further tinkering. I received feedback on Dominion: Fealty that my cards didn't feel like a cohesive set, which was honestly pretty spot-on. Are there any blind spots in my existing cards? Not enough attacks, not enough $3 costs? If it's meant to be a "treasure trove" expansion of previous mechanics, do I need to fit more in there? What are some design spaces that could use further exploration?
And what do I do with Genius?
