Jerk!
No really, I don't mind much and it's a valid question. You're also not going to like my answer, though.
My playgroup is not *that* good. In fact, they're probably bad-on-average. I'm probably the worst of the lot, to be honest. Some are stronger than others, but none are high level. It's why I'm here in the variants and fan cards forum; playtesting can only net me so much information. Theorycrafting and knowledge of high-level exploits are something my test group doesn't have. Your responses have been the lighthouse helping steer the ship away from the rocks.
That said,
I am building the set for my test group. I can't understate that. I'm very unlikely to suddenly score a license from DXV and RGG, because I'm not the guy. So my end goal is to have something that my friends and I enjoy. That said, I also don't want to print cards that my playgroup likes now, but later realizes are basically unplayably bad. I'd rather not print physicals of 27 cards only to find out that in one year the set will only 'really be' 20 cards because 7 cards are garbage. Permanent garbage, since I'm unlikely to make second or third editions once I've printed it.
So where am I at at the moment?
I'm trying out Stronghold as always costing $7 and always playing itself as an attack; this brings in the question of "but what if there are no attacks"? Maybe it needs to add an attack pile at setup, but then that's crazy amounts of text.
I'm trying out the following for Shipwreck:
[Shipwreck - Action -$?
+1 Buy
+ $1
If your discard pile is empty, gain a Gold and a Copper onto the bottom of your deck in any order. Otherwise, look through your discard pile. You may reveal a Treasure card from it and put it on the bottom of your deck.
The main issue I've had so far with Shipwreck is that if you don't have good Treasures in your deck, the card is probably worth $1. Then, if you *have* good Treasures in your deck but they're not in your discard pile, it's still worth $1. Or maybe $-1. On the other hand if you use it to gain a Gold and Copper, it's worth maybe $4 or $5 (see Cache or Skulk) but that also depends on which turn it is. Getting it for $4 with the multiple costs system, and then getting the Gold on turn 3 and then the Shipwreck on turn 4 so you get the Gold on turn 5 is pretty damn good. So if someone gets that lucky set of events but the other player(s) get an unlucky set of events, like only getting the Shipwreck when their discard pile is empty, it's pretty unbalanced.
This change may normalize the value more, but I have no idea what it should be priced at. It also may make it worse in practice, since now it might have just reversed what's lucky and what's not.
Boulder Trap, I'm trying this out but have no commitment to it yet:
Boulder Trap - Trap - $4
-1 VP
When you discard this, the player to your left gains it.
-
When you gain this from the Supply, gain a Silver onto your deck.
Hot potato? Maybe a better idea. Maybe horrid.
Oh yes, and then there's this guy,
Profiteer - Action - $3
+1 Action
+1 Buy
Trash a non-Victory card from the Supply. Choose one: cards with the same name cost $1 less this turn (but not less than $0); or cards with the same name cost $1 more this turn.
Still has a the hokey "make action gains better" idea, but in a way that makes much more sense to the player.
.
