Hi all,
Dominion: Swords & Sorcery (DS&S) is a mini-set that I'm currently designing. Inspired by Asper's
excellent cards, the aim is to introduce new mechanics but stay simple. The setting is D&D-style fantasy.
The set is still in its very early days: I've blitzed out a few ideas but not playtested it yet. I'm posting it now to allow early feedback, and to encourage big changes before I get too wedded to any of the ideas. I'm hoping to bully some people into testing it with me soonish.
Adventurer CardsThese are the defining cards in the set (at the moment), a sort of cross between Heirlooms and Reserve cards.
At the start of the game, each player starts with one copy of every Adventurer specified in any of the Kingdom cards or Quests. The cards start on the player's
Adventurer's Guild mat, where they remain until they're called. Unlike Reserve cards, calling requires first satisfying some precondition, and the cards don't (currently) have any on-call effects. They get discarded as normal during Clean-up and can be played next time they cycle round. When an Adventurer card gets trashed it gets returned to the Adventurers' Guild rather than placed in the trash pile; the only way to get rid of an Adventurer is to pass it using Masquerade.
Comments: The fact that there's at most one of each Adventurer hopefully gives a bit more leeway in card design. My aim is to make the game reasonably balanced regardless of how many Adventurers are in use: more Adventurers should mainly mean more strategy options. The name Adventurer is quite natural given the setting, but obviously clashes with a removed Base card (admittedly my least favourite one). Other suggestions are welcome. If the mechanic works, I plan to add a few more Adventurers, though many of the obvious card names (Thief, Rogue, Ranger, Druid) are similarly taken.
Kingdom cardsThese all introduce an Adventurer, with some attempt at synergy between the card and the Adventurer. Many are probably broken as written.
MissionsMissions are the other way to introduce Adventurers to the game. Whenever any player completes a Mission's Quest, they place a cube on it and take the specified Reward.
Comments: these are very preliminary proofs-of-concepts. The challenge here will be to make the Missions fun and not too swingy: an incentive to play a little differently but not a game breaker.
EquipmentA way to mod your Adventurers! There is one of each card, and 3 random ones are brought out whenever any Adventurer cards are in use. They work a bit like Projects: you can buy one for the price specified, place a cube on it, and follow the instructions. There is no limit on how many different equipment items you can buy in a game.
Comments: the challenge here is obviously to make the equipment balanced in games with 1 Adventurer but also in games with all 5.
[Updates]
2019.05.18 Initial upload
2019.05.19 Fixed Dark Priest wording and made it a Reaction
2019.05.20 Renamed Quest into Adventure and Gear into Equipment; added runners-up for Adventures
2019.05.26 Renamed Adventure into Mission and make prize the same for everyone; buff Cleric; reword Dark Priest
2021.03.16 Added Travellers Inn; renamed Horse to Steed, Goblin Ambush to Goblin Band; redesigned Pegasus, Goblin Band, School of Magic; tweaked Barbarian, Cleric, Sorcerer, Dragon, Ruined Crypt; repriced Equipment.
2021.04.23 Added Exorcism, Grand Alliance, Backpack, Signet Ring; updated Dragon Heist reward; restricted to 3 Equipments per game.
2022.09.02 Make Sorcerer a Command card.