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126

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Renaissance Previews #2: Acting Troupe, Sculptor, Recruiter

« on: September 25, 2018, 06:34:06 am »

The closest thing to Villagers we currently have is Coin of the Realm. Villager tokens are coins. Neat.

Diadem basically turns Villagers into Coffers. The tokens are coins for both. Neat.

How do the tokens do double duty? Two mats? One mat with two sides? Double-sided coins?


Sculptor + Cemetery is cute.

No +Buys yet, but I'm sure they'll be there. Same for non-attack interactions. I hope to see some of those soon because they're my favourite kind of cards.

127

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Renaissance Previews #1: Mountain Village, Priest, Seer, Scholar, Experiment

« on: September 25, 2018, 06:08:51 am »

Priest likes Treasure/Night trashers obviously.

Good luck spending that money at night.

I wanted to say 'Devil's Workshop + Villa' but there's that 'if it's your buy phase'-clause. As far as I can find there is no niche case where you can benefit from the virtual coin you can get with priest + night trashers.

Priest I haven't been impressed by, yet. It seems like you need a lot in place for its potential to be unleashed; it didn't do much on the boards I've played with it.

To use it for virtual coin in an engine you need actions, draw, gainers, buy.
But even to get the extra benefit ONCE you need a village, a Priest, something to trash with the Priest, something else that can trash, and something else to trash with the something else that can trash (ignoring combinations of said components). That's a lot to line up.

I haven't played with it but it looks like it will usually play like an early-game Salvager or Moneylender.

Also, how good is the 'card from discard into hand' on Mountain Village?

128

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Renaissance Previews #1: Mountain Village, Priest, Seer, Scholar, Experiment

« on: September 24, 2018, 10:35:42 am »

Priest likes Treasure/Night trashers obviously.

What happens if you inherit Experiment?

129

Dominion: Renaissance Previews / Re: Dominion: Renaissance on RGG's website

« on: September 20, 2018, 07:30:53 am »

Oh boy, all my current expansions just barely fit in my storage solution.

And again I will have to wait for 999 Games to release their own version about one year later, and then I will have to wait for them to print errata cards for the inevitable translation errors they will make (which, as far as I know, they haven't done yet for Adventures, Empires and second edition, although they promised they would do it when they would print Nocturne).

Maybe this time I will just have it shipped from America.

130

Dominion General Discussion / Dutch Nocturne is 'expected'...

« on: September 20, 2018, 07:19:29 am »

...but not in stores or orderable online yet. (is 'orderable' even a word?)

See https://www.999games.nl/dominion-nocturne-kaartspel.html

Place your bets on how many translation errors there will be, and which cards will have them.

I already got mine (in English) while I was visiting a conference in America. I'm not sure if I will buy it but someone has to check it for errors and update the wiki accordingly so if anyone is planning to get it please let me know.

131

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Homage to the Best Card

« on: July 24, 2018, 04:06:57 pm »

Comic requested by Pyan.

You can put tokens on tokens now.  There are also Morning, Brunch, Naptime, and Brunch Night phases now.  It's easy, though - Morning, Brunch, Action, Naptime, Buy, Night, Cleanup - it's just MBANBNC.  New players have no trouble picking it up in playtests, so we're pretty happy with it.

Translation errors in Dutch translations have been slowly increasing with each expansion, with the newest couple of expansions being 100% mistranslated. The Dutch rules of Dominion: Brunchtime are a widely esteemed science-fiction novel that has put DXV and the Dutch translators in a long-running judicial dispute over who has intellectual property over said novel.

Due to all English words being used as card names in Dominion, DXV has invented a large repository of new words, such as 'Chancellscout'.

Each copy of a Dominion base set  now contains implantable mantis shrimp eyes so people can identify the colours of some of the many new types from eachother.

132

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 22, 2018, 02:15:04 pm »

The first one requires three cards for the reaction to work: the card itself to react and discard, a card you can trash with, and a card to trash. Lining up three cards is probably too much, and there are more interesting defenses against trashers.

So instead of trying to fix it I will make a new card with a similar flavour:

[Card name]
Cost: $[3 or 4. Not sure] Types: Action.
Card text:
Trash or discard a card from your hand. Gain a card costing exactly $1 more than it.

Is foregoing playing a $5 bad enough to allow for Gold-gaining? Leprechaun does it for Hexing yourself, which can trash your cards, junk you, or mess with your buy phase. However, with this you need to buy a $5 first, and you need to collide your $5 with this.

133

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 21, 2018, 10:42:35 am »

How are you expecting people to use that second card? To get any really nifty benefit from it you need to be playing two or three, which involves having two or three other cards in hand to trash with them. Doesn't that mean you either have to incorporate it into a fairly powerful engine which can do plenty of nifty stuff anyway, or people will end up turning Copper and Curses into Copper and Curses until two piles are empty? (-8

I've floated around a couple of variants before settling onto this one. 'Up to' could be 'exactly', 'Gain a card' could be 'You may gain a card', 'the number of [Card name]s in play' could have 'after the first one', et cetera. They are initial concrete versions of concepts I thought of, not final versions.

Yes, it needs an engine to get two or more of them. And yes, you can't trash Coppers with it. You're right on both accounts - perhaps it's too weak. I think the most interesting fix would be changing it to 'Trash this or a card from your hand' like Raze. I use 'up to' instead of 'exactly' to give the player more control when playing multiple.

I think allowing it to self-trash so you don't need an engine for more than two, would make it more interesting. Let's also allow for Copper-trashing to see what happens:

[Card name]
Cost: $2. Types: Action.
Card text:
+1 Action. Trash this or a card from your hand. You may gain a card costing up to $X more than it where X is the number of [Card name]s you have played this turn.

With just one it's worse than Raze. In multiples they become stronger (and don't need an engine). You could turn Estates into more of these to get more benefit. Maybe this new version could be $3. I'm not sure.

On the second: I use 'exactly' so it can trash Coppers and Curses. I could've used 'You may gain a card costing up to $1 more than it', but it's more wordy. The Reaction is useful with trash-for-benefit or when you want to turn a card into another card. Don't forget having two of these lets one react to the other.

Yes, they aren't very strong. I was trying to make cheap cards.

134

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Obligatory Floating-Some-Fan-Cards Post, from me, silvern.

« on: July 21, 2018, 10:34:37 am »

Humble Village is simple and neat.

Tyrant may be too punishing/swingy in the opening. It's easy to remember everyone's opening cards, so whoever draws Tyrant on turn 3 gets to impair the other player's turn 4, which matters greatly. I don't know how it plays in the remainder of the game.

Contract may be too strong for the reasons stated, although I like the Curse-gaining for extra trashing.

135

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Interview with Donald X.

« on: July 21, 2018, 10:14:14 am »

Do you playtest digitally or physically?

What art do you use on cards when playtesting?

136

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 20, 2018, 08:51:47 pm »

Trying to think of some Remodel variants.

[Card name]
Cost: $[Not sure]. Types: Action, Reaction.
Card text:
Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing exactly $1 more it.
---Dividing line---
When one of your cards is trashed, you may discard this from your hand to gain a non-Victory card to your hand with the same value as the trashed card.

This should probably cost somewhere from $2 to $4. On the one hand there's the card's power that has an influence on the cost, on the other hand there's the possibility of turning Estates into these, or turning these into $5-costs, plus the interaction with itself and other trash-for-benefits. So I'm not sure what the best cost would be. The 'non-Victory' clause prevents gaining Provinces without losing your $7-cost card, but maybe lining up two of these and a $7-cost should be rewarded, plus there's not a lot of those.

[Card name]
Cost: $2. Types: Action.
Card text:
+1 Action. Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing up to $X more than it where X is the number of [Card name]s in play.

A spammable Remodel that becomes stronger as you play more of them.  I think it should cost $2 based on Raze/Ratcatcher/Lurker, and you can't trash Coppers with just one of them. Also see Trade Route/Develope/Forager. Maybe $3.

137

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Dominion Anime Protagonists Unite!

« on: July 20, 2018, 10:28:45 am »

"I pay two Gold to build a Moat. Now you cannot use your Opulent Castle until you build a Bridge!"
"Haha! I simply use a Ferry to place the Ferry token on the Moat pile, so I can get across it to get to my Opulent Castle!"

138

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best cards to learn specific rules?

« on: July 20, 2018, 10:22:05 am »

Laboratory
don't shuffle your played cards into your discard

Black Market
This is one of the few exceptions to playing Treasure in your Buy phase

Outpost
There is no 'D' (draw) in ABC!

There is no T in AAO either.

I also notice that some players, when buying a card, tend to take that card into their hand, and then do clean-up

I don't see that one. But I do see people confusing their play area and their discard pile quite frequently: gaining to in-play, or playing to the discard pile.

I also see a lot of people throwing their Victory cards into play along with their Treasures. Which can matter.

I'm not sure there's any specific card or cards which demonstrate why these are wrong, though. Any engine will do.

The first one I see very sparingly, the second a lot.

Bonfire would work for the second. I can't quickly think of a simpler one.

I was thinking Pilgrimage.

I think Haunted Woods would be the best teacher here. It's possible that they would understand that their green cards aren't "in play" even if they throw them down. Haunted Woods' attack, though, suddenly makes it matter that they're still in your hand.

Ah, I forgot about that. Yes, Haunted Woods would be much simpler.

139

Dominion General Discussion / Re: A Critical Look at fan-favorite: fool's gold

« on: July 19, 2018, 10:58:01 am »

Maybe whoever buys metals from our mines is really susceptible to large quantities.

140

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 19, 2018, 10:52:52 am »

Anyway,

[Card name]
Cost: $4. Types: Action.
Card text:
Gain a card costing up to $4. +$X equal to the difference between $4 and the card's $ cost.

Workshop variant that gives you virtual coin for gaining cheaper cards. Ironworks does it when gaining Silver. I'm a bit worried about balance when gaining $0/$1 costs and, if it isn't, whether the concept is salvageable.

I actually came up with this exact card last night, except that it was +Cards instead of +$.

Cool.

With cards it would be great for engines where the virtual coin requires feeding (Trade Route, Death Cart, Forager, some others).
With coin you still require a trasher. Would work well with Pooka.

I think cards is a bit more interesting - plus in trimmed decks and with deck-drawing engines, you can gain something under $4, then draw it.

Both of them can get you to $5 easily in turns 3 or 4, but with cards it also speeds up your deck cycling, so you can play those $5s (or $6s) faster.

141

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:53:55 am »

Anyway,

[Card name]
Cost: $4. Types: Action.
Card text:
Gain a card costing up to $4. +$X equal to the difference between $4 and the card's $ cost.

Workshop variant that gives you virtual coin for gaining cheaper cards. Ironworks does it when gaining Silver. I'm a bit worried about balance when gaining $0/$1 costs and, if it isn't, whether the concept is salvageable.

142

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Thought exercise: nerfs and buffs

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:37:10 am »

With the recent discussion on Guardian - what if you can optionally trash it at the start of your turn to get a second +$1?

143

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best cards to learn specific rules?

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:32:45 am »

I also notice that some players, when buying a card, tend to take that card into their hand, and then do clean-up

I don't see that one. But I do see people confusing their play area and their discard pile quite frequently: gaining to in-play, or playing to the discard pile.

I also see a lot of people throwing their Victory cards into play along with their Treasures. Which can matter.

I'm not sure there's any specific card or cards which demonstrate why these are wrong, though. Any engine will do.

The first one I see very sparingly, the second a lot.

Bonfire would work for the second. I can't quickly think of a simpler one.

144

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 17, 2018, 05:35:22 pm »

So I know this was perceived as a Copper junker, but I kind of wonder whether it would be easier to balance as a Curser. Like:

+2 coins
+1 Buy
Each other player with 4 or more cards in hand discards a card, gaining a Curse if that card was a Victory or Curse card.

I often wonder (for this card and others I've thought of) is it worth it to include ruins and shelters to a card like this? They aren't particularly common, but if they aren't included they become quite the loophole to the function of this card.

Ruins and Shelters are expansion-specific types, and such types are usually only referred to in their own expansion.

Discard attacks are basically 'anti-draw'. crj has an interesting 'anti-sifting' concept. The main problem is that it can be beneficial for your opponents, as people could sift their Coppers to get better cards (especially when they trashed their Estates). So it would either need to be an interaction effect as downside on a rather strong card (perhaps a strong sifter), or it would have to care about card cost (such as 'every other player discards a card costing $3 to $6 (or to $7) or reveal they can't. If they did, they draw a card.') Or an Action/Treasure costing $1 or more.

145

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Reactions

« on: July 17, 2018, 03:07:53 pm »

Is there a way to activate Diplomat's actions in a Reaction-only kingdom? I don't see one.

Trash Fool's Gold from hand on your opponent's turn.

Ah, yes, thanks.
Although I was hoping you could make a somewhat reliable engine out of Reactions, but using Diplomat as your village would only work after other's Province turns.
But with Shelters, you'd have Necropolis, which decreases your handsize. So you could play, for example, Necropolis - Secret Chamber - Diplomat.
Now I'm wondering what the best megaturn would be using only Reactions, provided the stars align perfectly. You can trash with Trader + Watchtower.

146

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best cards to learn specific rules?

« on: July 17, 2018, 02:50:39 pm »

I also notice that some players, when buying a card, tend to take that card into their hand, and then do clean-up (instead of putting it in their discard pile and then doing clean-up).

Herald and Inn are especially good at teaching this. Grand Castle too but there's only one. Cemetery clearly implies you still have a hand.
Mint, Farmland, Mandarin, Emporium work too.
Also night cards make for a very clear distinction between buy and clean-up.

Although for teaching purposes, simpler is usually better.


Vassal + Faithful Hound may be the best example of lose-track as they are both straightforward cards.

dz: Gear when you don't set aside cards too.

147

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Reactions

« on: July 17, 2018, 02:34:15 pm »

1) Watchtower.

2) Hovel. The least interesting one in my opinion.

3) Watchtower or Fool's Gold. I'm not sure whether I should interpret 'most useful' as 'utility' or as 'strength'. Fool's Gold wants gainers or +buy though.

Is there a way to activate Diplomat's actions in a Reaction-only kingdom? I don't see one.

148

Dominion General Discussion / Best cards to learn specific rules?

« on: July 17, 2018, 10:06:03 am »

So which cards are great at teaching new players specific rules? In this thread I want you to pick a rule that new players tend to forget / not understand why it exists / make mistakes with, and provide a few cards that are great at teaching them about it.

For example:
-You play your Treasures one by one, not simultaneously:
Contraband, Horn of Plenty, Bank, Magic Lamp.

149

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Grey makes a boring card now and then.

« on: July 17, 2018, 09:45:23 am »

Yeah, this is a pretty great card design, but it does need to be $4. I think it’s better for it to give out Coppers rather than curses. It’s nice for it to be slightly weaker and more newbie friendly, and it’s less damaging to certain alt VP slogs that way. I would use LFN’s wording and not care that it’s weaker in Council Room games or whatever; it’s already very solid.

Based on the discussion I agree with $4. I mostly chose Copper over Curse because I want the 'discard something useful' vs. 'gain something bad'-ratio to be closer together - people are more likely to opt for gaining a Copper than a Curse. With Torturer this is achieved by the effect stacking.

One benefit of Curses (and Ruins) is that the size of the pile is catered to the number of players. All existing junkers that hand out Coppers do so sparingly, have conditions for not obtaining them, or help get rid of them. Mountebank slows down or stops as people get more Curses. Noble Brigand, Hex attacks, Jester, maybe Messenger, don't always do it. Ambassador gets rid of two before junking. Some cards have Copper/Curse as a penalty, but this is the player's own decision. All this puts a limit on how much someone's deck can be junked, perhaps because junking beyond some point makes the game too slow and unfun. I think this is why there are no unconditional Copper junkers - the pile is simply too large.

I think I can get away with Coppers because the decision of getting junked is in the attackee's hands, so you don't necessarily need the balance of a limited Curse pile. (Edge case: a hand of all Victory cards, but that barely happens, and as you get more Coppers you get less of these hands)

There's also "each other player discards down to four cards in hand, then gains a Copper if the top card of her discard pile is a Victory card."

The Councilroom engines won't be dissuaded from playing the card.

I think I would only use the top card of one's discard pile if other cards in a set use it. It does make Tunnel a good defense against this, though.

150

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: A few new card ideas for cornucopia and guilds

« on: July 16, 2018, 04:38:39 pm »

• ... Secret Chamber ... avoid the problem by having no effect when revealed multiple times.

You mean without something else happening in between?
You could reveal Secret Chamber to get a Caravan Guard in your hand that previously wasn't, then play that Caravan Guard, then reveal the same Secret Chamber again to see a card that you couldn't see on the first reveal.