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51

Variants and Fan Cards / Fan Card Mechanics Week 78: He Who Remains

« on: November 22, 2023, 02:25:32 pm »

For Week 78, I'm using a mechanic that I came up with a while ago, but have gone back and forth about, not sure if it is worthy of being its own thing: Remain cards. Remain cards are similar to Duration cards (they even share the same orange color), but they operate differently enough (I think) to justify being their own mechanic.

Here are the rules for Remain cards:

• Remain cards are orange and may stay in play beyond the turn they are played.
• As part of their ability, Remain cards will put Remain tokens on themselves. They do this using a +Remain direction, with +X Remain putting X Remain tokens on a card. So, for example, if a card says "+2 Remain" it will put 2 Remain tokens on itself.
• Players do not discard Remain cards in Clean-up if they have any Remain tokens left on them. Instead, players remove one Remain token from each Remain card each Clean-up.
• Remain cards are not discarded the turn their final Remain token is removed; instead they will be discarded the following turn (unless additional Remain tokens are added).
• There may be other ways to add or remove Remain tokens from a Remain card.
• Unlike with Duration cards, everything a Remain card does on-play happens the turn it is played.
• Thus, if a card such as Throne Room plays a Remain card multiple times, that card does not stay in play until the player discards the Remain card, as there is no need to track the fact that the Remain card was played multiple times.
• Remain cards may have an effect on future turns using a below-the-line ability, but playing a Remain card multiple times will not multiply that ability (although doing so will put more Remain tokens on the card, which could strengthen the ability or extend the time it's working).
• I have made a few examples of Remain cards for the follow-up post.

The task is simple:

Design a Remain card.

The Remain type is not by itself playable, so your Remain card will need at least one other type (presumably a playable type such as Action / Treasure / Night / Dawn / etc.). Your Remain card can have any other type as well (I don't think Remain - Duration would work, but I'm not banning it in case someone comes up with something creative I'm not anticipating). You are also free to include any other official or fan mechanics in the design and to use any additional cards/landscapes you want to support your card's design--and if you use a split pile or non-Supply card, you are allowed (but not required) to use multiple Remain cards.


My main judging criteria is whether I would be excited to see the design in a Kingdom. Important factors for me are:

• balance -- the card useful, but not overpowering (both in general and in a variety of Kingdoms);
• playability -- the card is fun to play and works in more than one type of deck;
• simplicity -- this doesn't always mean fewer words; a card with lots of text that, once you understand it, can be easily and intuitively be played is better than one with four lines of text that is hard to understand;
• topicality -- the card uses the mechanic in an interesting way;

The deadline for submissions will be 19:30 UTC / 2:30 p.m. Eastern/Forum time on Thursday, November 29, 2023. Please let me know if you have any questions.

52

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics week 77: Trope (Horizontal)

« on: November 21, 2023, 11:34:34 am »

Thanks, BryGuy. I'll try to post a new contest later today.

53

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics week 77: Trope (Horizontal)

« on: November 20, 2023, 01:32:08 pm »

Meet Cute Trope When you shuffle, pick a card to set aside. During your Clean-up, if you have 5 or more cards set aside, take them instead of drawing a new hand.

Meet Cute lets you set aside cards from your deck, then (once you have 5+ set aside) take them in place of drawing a new hand. The most obvious use is for cards that like/need collisions (e.g. Treasure Map). Conversely, it can be used to keep bad cards out of your hand for a while, although doing so risks a lost turn when they all come back. Alternatively, you can try to build a mega-turn, but doing so will keep some strong cards out of your deck--possible for a while.

54

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #188: Make a Wish

« on: May 31, 2023, 12:31:20 pm »

My Submission:

Lucky Dragon • $6 • Action +6 Cards Discard 4 cards. Return this to the Supply. If you did, gain a Wish.

My submission is Lucky Dragon. A strong terminal draw/sift, it turns into a Wish after you play it. You can use the Wish to get your Dragon back, or turn it into something else (e.g. a Gold or a Duchy). This creates the slight possibility of getting the card back faster, either because the Wish hits a shuffle (although this being a terminal draw card, that's fairly unlikely), or if you can topdeck it.

It also creates various on-gain interactions (e.g. Sheepdog, Labyrinth, etc.) with Academy being particularly strong (turning it from a terminal card to, in effect, a village). There is also the potential to create a chain if you have 2 copies of LD, the ability to play them non-terminally, and a way to topdeck cards--you play 1 LD, gain the Wish onto your deck, play the other LD (drawing, among other things, the Wish) and putting the next Wish onto your deck, then repeat the process. But given the rarity of the other 2 elements, it's pretty difficult to pull that off.

55

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 24, 2023, 07:05:51 pm »

Sorry I've disappeared. I've been completely slammed at work for a couple of weeks straight. I will come back for the judging, but for now I will announce the winner so there can be another contest:

Winner:
Joanne De Arc by fika monster

Runner-up:
Kaladin by czzzz

I will try to do the actual judging (and provide feedback) when I'm able.

56

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 15, 2023, 01:51:47 pm »

Sorry, I got tied up with family stuff this weekend. Should have this done by tomorrow.

57

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 11, 2023, 12:52:24 pm »

CONTEST CLOSED

Here are the submissions I have. Please let me know if I have missed any or if you've updated yours:

• Charlemagne by segura
• Attila by BryGuy
• Joanne De Arc by fika monster
• Kaladin by czzzz

I will try to get through the judging tonight/tomorrow.

58

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #186: An Impish Challenge

« on: May 10, 2023, 03:33:14 pm »

My Submission:

Evil Plan • $5 • Night - Duration Choose one: set aside up to 3 Action cards from your hand that you have a copy of in play; or set aside an Imp from its pile. At the start of your next turn, play the set aside cards in any order.

My submission is Evil Plan. At worst, it will add an Imp to your deck and let you play it the following turn (effectively giving you +1 Action). As you build your deck, you will be able to set aside more cards (including prior copies of Imp).

This is obviously overpowered. The delayed vanilla net effects are either +1 Card, +1 Action, gain a near Lab or +2 Cards, +3 Actions.
That is significantly stronger than comparable cards like Lost City or Longship, respectively (your card is kinda like a digger) Golem or Ghost.

Those aren't really relevant comps. The next-turn effect of Ghost Town is the same as a Lost City, and it only costs $3 (with a gain-to-hand bonus). If you're counting the need to play GT out of your hand on the prior turn, then it's only a LC the turn you gain it, and after that it's a regular village (but one that you never draw dead, which can be valuable when supporting terminal draw cards). But if that's how you are doing the math, then the second choice never increases the handsize, since each card you play has to be in your previous-turn hand. It can potentially give you +3 Actions, but, again, only if you leave 3 Action cards in your hand (and, effectively, turn them into Durations that only get played every other turn, at least while you're using them for EP).

I have no idea how EP is supposed to be a digger like Golem or Ghost. Those cards find Actions to play, even if they're under Treasures / Victory cards. EP can only set-aside-to-play actions that you both (a) have in your hand by your Night phase, and (b) have a copy of in play. To me, that's the opposite of a digger.

Also, I wouldn't call an Imp a near Lab, unless you have a ton of different Action cards or lots of Horses (and in those cases, EP's other ability is weakened as you are less likely to have copies of cards in play in your hand to set aside).

59

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #186: An Impish Challenge

« on: May 10, 2023, 10:33:33 am »

My Submission:

Evil Plan • $5 • Night - Duration Choose one: set aside up to 3 Action cards from your hand that you have a copy of in play; or set aside an Imp from its pile. At the start of your next turn, play the set aside cards in any order.

My submission is Evil Plan. At worst, it will add an Imp to your deck and let you play it the following turn (effectively giving you +1 Action). As you build your deck, you will be able to set aside more cards (including prior copies of Imp).

60

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 10, 2023, 10:23:55 am »

I feel like this could be a cool mechanic, but there is a bit of a disconnect for me here.

You say that gaining CP would eventually be as difficult as gaining a Loot, but on the examples provided for how CP might be used, their power level is more akin to a Favor token. These are two very different valuations, and I'm not sure whether the goal is to have
- CP be on a power level comparable with Loot; or
- CP be on a power level comparable to the provided examples (Henry V/Ahab).

Because I sure would much rather gain 5 Loots than use Henry V once. Hell, I would probably prefer gaining one Loot over using Henry V once.

But you start with 10-16 CP, and those initially CP are what you are mainly meant to use. At most, you start with 5 Favors, and only when Importer is in the game.

I mean, I know. This doesn't answer my question though.

Yeah, sorry. This whole idea is still pretty new, and I definitely haven't figured out all of the details. The examples I posted are also just very rough ideas for what I am thinking, and I haven't really adjusted them for balance (or even decided the overall balance for how strong these should be).

I guess my thinking re: extra CP is that the primary strategic choice you have to make with these (other than picking the one that works best for the particular game) is using the limited number of CP you have. So, for example, with Ahab you can (a) get 5 Woodcutters; (b) hunt for the White While twice; or (c) hunt once, and get 2 Woodcutters. Getting extra CP potentially interferes with that, so my thinking was to make it a high burden. What I didn't want (although maybe I should) is for these to be single-player Allies (where your use of them primarily depends on you getting Favors).

You make the good point that that may well just lead to players not bothering to get the cards that give extra CP, in which case I should probably either (a) not have such cards at all; or (b) make these into single-player Allies. It's a good point and definitely something to consider.

61

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 10, 2023, 10:14:14 am »

24 Hour Warning

Hey. Sorry I sort of lost track of this, and forgot to post it yesterday. I'll extend the contest deadline to 24 hours from now. Here are the submissions I have so far (please let me know if I have missed any):

• Charlemagne by segura
• Attila by BryGuy
• Joanne De Arc by fika monster

62

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 08, 2023, 11:47:08 am »

I feel like this could be a cool mechanic, but there is a bit of a disconnect for me here.

You say that gaining CP would eventually be as difficult as gaining a Loot, but on the examples provided for how CP might be used, their power level is more akin to a Favor token. These are two very different valuations, and I'm not sure whether the goal is to have
- CP be on a power level comparable with Loot; or
- CP be on a power level comparable to the provided examples (Henry V/Ahab).

Because I sure would much rather gain 5 Loots than use Henry V once. Hell, I would probably prefer gaining one Loot over using Henry V once.

But you start with 10-16 CP, and those initially CP are what you are mainly meant to use. At most, you start with 5 Favors, and only when Importer is in the game.

63

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 05, 2023, 09:02:06 am »

Stupid question, but i dont get what the top left blue circle is? Is that the cost of using the character ability or is it A numbering thing?

Or is the cost the one mentioned in the Character action description??

That is the cost (in Character Points) to take the Character at the start of the game. Different Characters cost different amounts.

My entry: I didnt understand how exactly the formatting and cost and such works.

If you use the TEMPLATE I made, the blue Character Point circle is set as the Custom Icon. You can use it by using the Section symbol:

§

(like you use $ for the coin  icon). So to set a cost at 2CP, you would use:

§2

As I explained above, the cost in the top left is the cost to take the card at the beginning of the game. Let me know if that makes sense.

64

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 03, 2023, 01:10:18 pm »

I just want to clarify: the Character "gaining" cost is just to balance how much CP you start with, essentially?

Yes. That's exactly right.

65

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Contest -- current contest, index, and hall of fame

« on: May 03, 2023, 01:09:06 pm »

Week 64: Delayed Gratification

Winner: Safehouse by emtzalex.	Runners up: Refurbisher by J410.	Imported Goods by czzzz.
	Refurbisher - Action - $5 +2 Cards At the start of Clean-up, you may choose a card costing $1 or more you would discard from play this turn, to Delay it by 1 per $1 it costs.

66

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: May 03, 2023, 12:58:40 pm »

Thanks for the judging and the win. The new contest is up.

67

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 03, 2023, 12:57:33 pm »

Examples

Here is a very basic example.

Henry V • 5CP • Character 5CP: +1 Card per Action card you have in play. +1 Action. Tire.

Henry V is a simple Character with a single ability. He costs 5 CP to gain, and leaves you with 5 CP to non-terminally draw a card for each Action card you have in play. Note that he tires after the drawing is resolved, so if it triggers a shuffle it will not ready him. Here's a slightly more complicated one:

Ahab • 10CP • Character 2CP: +1 Buy. +$2. 5CP: Trash the top card of your deck. If it's the White Whale, +10VP. Tire. Heritage: White Whale

White Whale • $2 • Action - Aquatic - Victory - Heritage +1 Buy Discard a card. 1VP

Ahab has two abilities: one of which provides a terminal Silver +Buy, but which doesn't Tire him. The other offers you the chance to get a ton of VP, but only if you can collide it with the Heritage card it adds being on top of your deck.

I am not saying these are good examples. They are examples.


On getting additional CP

I do envision these being part of a larger set. Sometimes, just playing cards in the set will be enough to trigger the inclusion of Characters (like Shelters or Platinum/Colony). However, the set will also include some Kingdom cards that can give players additional CP. My first thought on those was to give them the type "Tutor" but that's very much undecided.

In the context of those cards, getting a single point of CP will be roughly as difficult as gaining a Loot was in Plunder (maybe a bit harder; I don't think there'll be a Sack of Character Treasure or a Charactering event). Here is roughly the power level I had in mind:

Remote Academy • $4 • Action - Duration - Tutor Skip your next turn. When you do, +4CP and Ready your Character.		Books of Wisdom • $5 • Treasure - Tutor Discard 3 cards (revealed). +$1 per Treasure discarded. If you discarded an Action card, a Treasure, and a Victory card, +2CP.

Even if there is sometimes a way to get additional CP, there will be at least some games in which Characters are used with no way to get additional CP. However, in some cases their might be, so having a Character cost 16 CP and their ability cost 1 CP is not always going to be the same as having a Character cost 4 CP and having their ability also cost 4 CP.


On Characters being Tired / Ready

As previously mentioned, a player's Characters starts a game Tired, and become Ready when that player shuffles their deck. Some Character abilities cause the Character to Tire, which again requires the player to wait for a shuffle to use their abilities again.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Characters start Tired so their abilities can't be used as part of the opening, which alleviates some of the issues with mechanics like this potentially messing with the opening. Also, having an ability cause a Character to Tire makes it more like a traditional Kingdom card, in that after you use it, you have to wait for a shuffle to use it again.

68

Variants and Fan Cards / Fan Card Mechanics Week 65: What a Character

« on: May 03, 2023, 12:50:22 pm »

For Week 65, I'm introducing a new type of landscape, Characters. In a game, each Character used is particular to one player.

Here are the rules for Characters:

• In games using Characters, each player starts with 20 Character Points (CP).
• Before the first turn, each player is dealt 3 Characters (face down), choosing one and returning the other 2 (still face down) to the box. Players do not reveal their Character until each player has chosen.
• During the game, Characters are either Tired or Ready; you can only use your Character's abilities when they are ready.
• Characters start Tired. This can be indicated by the landscape being face down (although anyone can check to see what it does if it is) or with some sort of token.
• A player's Character becomes Ready when they shuffle their deck.
• During a player's Action phase, they may use one of their Character's abilities by spending an Action and the required number of CP.
• Some abilities cause a Character to Tire; they cannot then use more abilities until they become Ready again.
• If the ability does not cause a character to Tire, and the player has more Actions, they may use another ability that turn.
• In the set these are in, there may be a way to gain additional CP, but they won't always be available in games using Characters (see the follow-up post for more on this).
• I have made a couple of examples for the follow-up post.

The task is simple:

Design a Character.

In doing so, feel free to include any additional cards/landscapes (official or fan made) you want to support your Character's design, and feel free to use any official or fan mechanics in the design.

I have made this TEMPLATE for you to use.

My main judging criteria is whether I would be excited to see the design in a Kingdom. Important factors for me are:

• balance -- is the Character useful, but not overpowering (both in general and in a variety of Kingdoms);
• playability -- the Character is fun to play and works in more than one type of deck;
• simplicity -- this doesn't always mean fewer words; a card with lots of text that, once you understand it, can be easily and intuitively be played is better than one with four lines of text that is hard to understand;
• topicality -- the Character uses the mechanic in an interesting way;

The deadline for submissions will be 17:00 UTC / 1:00 p.m. Eastern/Forum time on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Please let me know if you have any questions.

69

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #185: It Takes A Village

« on: April 27, 2023, 03:29:23 pm »

My Submission:

Floating Village • $2 • Action - Duration +1 Card You may discard a card for +2 Actions. If you discarded an Action card, then at the start of your next turn, repeat this ability.

My submission is Floating Village. Generally, it'll be a village that sifts (i.e. draws a card than discards), rather than draws. However, if you end up with no more Action cards, you can opt out of the discarding (making it terminal). On the other hand, if you have too many Action cards (or junk like Ruins, or cards with on-discard reactions like Trail and Village Green), you can discard one of them to (effectively) replay Floating Village the following turn.

I think this is pretty balanced at $2. The obvious comparison is Hamlet, which would be strictly better without FV's Duration ability. As strong as that is, using it will be uncommon/challenging enough that it doesn't make this too powerful.

FAQ
When it says "...repeat this ability" it means all of the card's text: (a) the +1 Card; (b) the option to discard for +2 Actions; and (c) the possibility of repeating all that if you discard an Action. If you discard an Action card every turn, FV will stay in play and keep repeating its ability. (I borrowed the syntax from Taskmaster).

70

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 64: Delayed Gratification

« on: April 27, 2023, 02:59:41 pm »

My Submission:

Safehouse • Action - Night - Command • $4
If it's your Night phase, Delay by 3 a card you would discard from play this turn. Otherwise, play one of your non-Command Delayed cards, leaving it there.

71

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Contest -- current contest, index, and hall of fame

« on: April 27, 2023, 12:05:30 am »

Week 63: Sweet Dreams

Winner: Nightly Prayer / Bewitching Village by Xen3k.	Runners-up: Dessert / Confectioner by emtzalex.	Glory / Village Idiot by NoMoreFun.
		Glory Dream You may set aside a card from your hand per Action you have. Put the set aside cards in your hand at end of turn
		Village Idiot Action - $2 +3 Actions ________ Dream: Glory

72

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #184: Spring is in the Air

« on: April 21, 2023, 10:24:24 am »

How about "spend 2 Villagers for +2vp"?  Shorter.

I would second this. The only official cards that lets you pay with tokens is Butcher, the current version of which refers to "Coffers you spend" (although the two prior version each had completely different language).

73

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 63: Sweet Dreams

« on: April 21, 2023, 10:18:30 am »

My Submission:

Desert • Dream Gain a non-Victory card costing up to $1 per differently named card you have in play.	Confectioner • Action • $4 +1 Card +1 Action You may discard a card for +$2. When you gain this, ignore any further gaining this turn.

I had a little trouble deciding what to submit for this one, so I decided to take the contest name literally. Dessert gives you a "treat" at the end of every turn, whether you want it or not. Confectioner is a strong $4, even with it's on-gain effect. That effect interacts with Dessert in two ways: first, if you want to avoid Confectioner's penalty and gain it as one of multiple cards, using Dessert's gaining ability ensures that it's the last thing you do on a given turn; alternatively, you can use Confectioner to prevent Dessert from junking you if you don't have enough different cards in play.

74

Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #184: Spring is in the Air

« on: April 17, 2023, 11:38:36 am »

My Submission:

Maypole • $4 • Action - Treasure Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Choose one: play a revealed Action card; or +1 Buy and put a revealed Treasure card into your hand. Put the rest back on top in any order.

75

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Fan Card Mechanics Contest -- current contest, index, and hall of fame

« on: April 14, 2023, 03:15:00 pm »

Week 62: Be a Lady Tonight

Winner: Shrine Attendant (with Local Shrine) by Xen3k.	Runner Up: Diviner by czzzz.