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[faust]

Secret Secret History: Originally, Donald wanted to name this Brothel, for the Harem flavor tie-in. For some reason RGG didn't want that. So instead he went for a phallus symbol.

Obelisk haremizes one Action pile in the game. As we know from Harem, adding 2 VP is roughly worth $3. As we know from Nobles, that's not actually true since Nobles is already better than Smithy without the VP. The chosen card also doesn't get Victory type, which disables some cute interactions. Fun fact: Since it chooses a random Action supply pile, it could theoretically end up on the Ruins pile. That seems weird.

This will probably be at its most interesting when it ends up on a card that belong to the sightly weaker strategy of the board. Then you have to ask yourself, do I want to go for the other strategy just for the additional VP? Of course strategy 1 player can always pick some of those cards up for themselves. It probably mostly prevents rush strategies like Rebuild or Ironworks/Gardens, since it makes it much easier to get a couple VP for the countering player.

And then of course there is the most important question, the elephant in the room: How do you randomize the Action supply pile? Most of the discussion in this thread should be dedicated to this question.

[Mic Qsenoch]

How do you randomize the Action supply pile?

I would try this method.

[ThetaSigma12]

If the person never has played with Obelisk I just let them choose a supply pile.

Me: Choose an action pile.

Them: Why?

Me: Just do it.

Them: Uh, scout.

Me: Okay, all the scouts are worth 2 VP

Them: On second thought, peddler.

Me: Too late.

[singletee]

How do you randomize the Action supply pile?

1. If using physical randomizers, use the first card picked.
2. Roll a d10.
3. Shuffle the Kingdom cards and pick one.

This would be hilarious on Rats.

[LastFootnote]

I suggested this concept! It was in isotropic chat, which might be why that didn't make it into the secret history (there's no hard record to look back through). Anyway, yeah! Obelisk!

As the secret history states, originally it was "Kingdom card" rather than "Action card". My suggested method for randomizing it then was just: whichever randomizer you drew next. From the Adventures rulebook:

Event cards can also be shuffled into the randomizer deck. Events are not part of the 10 Kingdom cards used in a game; when an Event is turned over, put it on the table but keep turning over cards until you get 10 Kingdom cards. For normal play we recommend using at most two Events per game; skip any further Events.

So if you drew Obelisk, it meant that you were still going to need at least one more Kingdom card, and the next one you drew after Obelisk would be its target. In practice I'm not sure anybody actually shuffles Events/Landmarks in with their other randomizers (I sure don't), but it seemed clever at the time. I just use a d10 now, re-rolling when I hit a non-Action card.

Anyway, I liked "Kingdom card". Donald and I had one game where Farmlands were worth 4 VP. Good times. But most players don't know what "Kingdom card pile" means, so what can you do.

[LastFootnote]

Obelisk haremizes one Action pile in the game. As we know from Harem, adding 2 VP is roughly worth $3. As we know from Nobles, that's not actually true since Nobles is already better than Smithy without the VP.

I am of the belief that Harem should cost $5, though I haven't yet tested it that way. Anyway, hindsight is 20/20.

[faust]

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

[McGarnacle]

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Don't be so pedantic!  When is that ever going to happen?

[LastFootnote]

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Obelisk does nothing in that case. Everybody feels sad, but then they get to play a game of Dominion, so the sadness is at least brief.

[faust]

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Don't be so pedantic!  When is that ever going to happen?

There are 34 non-Action piles in 260 total, so the chance of having none is 4.016*10^(-8) %, or one in every 2,489,864,157 games. That's not negligible!

(Yes, this considers Young Witch/Black Market shenaningans. They don't matter because they're Actions.)

[stechafle]

Obelisk on Baker makes that pile disappear fast.

[McGarnacle]

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Don't be so pedantic!  When is that ever going to happen?

There are 34 non-Action piles in 260 total, so the chance of having none is 4.016*10^(-8) %, or one in every 2,489,864,157 games. That's not negligible!

(Yes, this considers Young Witch/Black Market shenaningans. They don't matter because they're Actions.)

Those odds are roughly the same as the odds of me beating Stef with a Counting House strategy.

[schadd]

-start 3 player game with obelisk on rats and no alt-vp
-buy 7 provinces and 12 duchies
-obtain 20 rats, trashing your other stuff
-commence twiddling thumbs

[ackmondual]

If you're looking for creative methods, then take a photo of the setup, print it out, mount it on a dartboard, and see what hits!

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Obelisk does nothing in that case. Everybody feels sad, but then they get to play a game of Dominion, so the sadness is at least brief.

Honestly, I'd be fine with just picking a new Landmark to replace that.

By the way, is there an official ruling as to what happens if there is no Action card in the supply?

Don't be so pedantic!  When is that ever going to happen?

If you play all 37 kajillion combination of Kingdom cards!

[ackmondual]

Secret Secret History: Originally, Donald wanted to name this Brothel, for the Harem flavor tie-in. For some reason RGG didn't want that. So instead he went for a phallus symbol.

By this scenario, I find it odd that Torturer and Harem were still OK-ed.

Obelisk haremizes one Action pile in the game. As we know from Harem, adding 2 VP is roughly worth $3.

I see what you did there