Dominion: Wilderness
Most of my forays into card design have been focused on high skill cards aimed at experienced players. Then I was seeing lower skill cards and appreciated player interaction and randomness a bit more. These aspects can make a game constantly engaging; with my set Dynasties focused on analysis of the kingdom before the game starts, heavily strategy-oriented, I felt little urge to play games through. Once the story of the game was sussed, that was that.
So could I make a high skill set where player interaction and a touch of randomness are encouraged? I took some mechanics that seemed to fit this brief, gelled them together, and now they've almost turned into an expansion.
The result is Wilderness, an ultimately 400-card expansion with the central theme of
adaptation to changing events. There are useful Resources adding a light sprinkle of randomness, Acts giving you alternatives to spend your Actions on, and the return of Heirlooms, the Tavern mat and VP tokens.
The list of cards is just below the explanation of the new mechanics.
Composition- 27 kingdom cards
- 7 Heirlooms
- 40 Resources
- 19 Acts
- The Tavern mat
- VP tokens
NEW MECHANICSI have seen all the mechanic ideas mentioned on this forum before, but not especially developed (or I don't remember). Nothing is a conscious direct copy.
Resources and GatherersSo Resources, that's a rather generic term. They look like this:
Fruit - Action Resource, $2 cost.
You may play an Action card that costs more than this from your hand. Then, +2 Cards.
Ore - Action Resource, $2 cost.
+1 Action
+ $2
Refuge - Action Resource, $2 cost.
+1 Card
+2 Actions
Discard a card.
Wood - Action Resource, $2 cost.
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy
They're a take on the 'good Ruins' idea. Like Ruins:
- There are 10 copies of each, shuffled at the start of each game and only the top one is visible.
- There is a type, Gatherer, that adds them to the game and comes with the extra setup rules of shuffling them and keeping them face down except for the top one. Maybe confusing with the Gathering type, but thematically correct.
- There is one each for Cards, Actions, Buys and $.
Unlike Ruins:
- All 40 are used in every game.
- When you want to buy a Resource, you look at the top 2 Resources and choose one of them. If it's the second one down, put the top one at the bottom of the pile. Since you're putting effort in to use a Buy, you get this bonus then. When you're instructed to gain one, you just take whatever's on top.
So when there's a Gatherer in the game, every engine component is available, but at random times. You might try to collect lots of Resources to get everything, but be careful since they don't work that well together.
ActsThese are landscape cards just like Events, only they're triggered by spending an Action (Action, not Action card) during the Action phase rather than buying them.
Some Acts are Durations. They can only be used once per turn. When one of them is used, the card is moved into the player's top row of their play area like an Action Duration card, moving down and being returned after that turn's end. While it's in their area, other players can't use it.
Differences from Ways:
- An Action is spent, not an Action card. So they can be used in the opening turns.
- The overall power level is thus a bit weaker.
- They can potentially only be used once per turn.
- Design space advantages include independence on what's in your hand and effects broken on an Action card.
- You can use two of them in a game.
Heirlooms are also in the set. The rule I would impose for when 8 or more different Heirlooms are selected is to randomly choose 7 of them.
So with Acts and Heirlooms together, there is a lot more going on in the opening turns!
CARD LISTI am revealing the cards over time, then putting them all together in this first post.
THE CARDS INDIVIDUALLYI explain each of them, then give my positives (+) and negatives (-) on its design, then give its history.
Resources
As you seek to expand your kingdom into barren desert regions, you must depend on whatever resources the environment bestows you. Whilst players may not have to depend on them as much as in real life, every vanilla engine component is available in every game with a Gatherer, but they come in a random order, and sometimes the crucial one will be hotly contested and sought after!
+: They create random and replayable games. They do not make a good deck by themselves, but rather support the kingdom cards.
-: Ore is risky costing $2, although it is the only stop card. The same issue as Donald had with Horses could arise, that a large number of gained Resources lengthens play too much.
History:
Fruit had draw to 5 cards on it for quite a while, with varying forms; may discard a card first, discard any number, put a card back on the deck for +1 Action, +1 Card before everything, then 2 Cards. Then I saw how it was making the Resources too independent and changed it to the current weak lab.
Ore was initially +1 Action + $1, if you had a Gatherer in play + $1; a bit boring. Then + $2, if a Gatherer or another Resource in play +1 Action; independence again and awkward. So now plain Action Silver.
Refuge and
Wood basically haven't ever changed.
I also tried $3 cost variants briefly, but that was too useful and centralising.
Flavour wise, they were first called Trinkets, and they were Codex, Jewellery, Garment and Crate, respectively. Like things you could find when razing a settlement. Too much of that in Dominion already, so I thought again, landed at Resources, and from there the whole desert theme developed.
There was a fifth Resource; Water Source (Tool as a Trinket), +1 Card +1 Action if you have exactly 5 cards in hand trash one of them. The only reason I put it there was to be symmetrical to the Ruins pile. Resources are useful unlike the Ruins, so they don't need a deck controller to soften them. It was much less useful overall, so didn't belong.
Ancient Ruins - Action, $4 cost.
Reveal your hand; the player to your left picks one of the cards. Trash it to choose two different things: +2 Cards; +2 Buys; + $2; +2VP.
Dare you venture into the unknown to find lost treasure within the ruins? The best card in your hand (probably) will be trashed for benefit, and you get to pick a nice reward.
+: It adds interaction and puts an interesting choice alongside VP gaining. One can get a big payoff early, but then see this become dud more quickly than other trashers, especially if Treasures are the principal payload.
-: Not much testing yet, it could be too difficult to use too often.
History: it used to give +1 Buy, trash the top card of deck for 2VP and your choice of +Cards or +$ equal to the trashed card's cost in $. I was trying for casual randomness. Then I liked the randomness less, and reduced the VP reward to 1; it wasn't nice to have players get ahead by taking gambles. When I tired of it, I changed a WDC entry I did with the premise of the player to the left choosing a card in hand, replacing top-deck trash with it.
Then I saw an interesting design lesson: the decision for the player to the left was a mundane one. The better the card they had trashed, generally the better the payoff you got, so they had to weigh things up, using mental effort not for the benefit of their deck. So, the self benefit had to be a constant. It became the current version.
With further playtesting, the cost was reduced from $5 to $4 because it was proving so fiddly to use.
Astronomer - Action Reserve, $2 cost.
+1 Action
Put this on your Tavern mat.
-
When you shuffle, you may call this to first pick one of the cards and put it into your hand.
Astronomers make Star Charts. This triggers on a shuffle, letting you pick any card to draw, so it's like a delayed cantrip. In exchange for the near immaculate reliability, it misses the shuffle.
+: It's simple and elegant. I have seen plenty of moments where the decision of what to pick is very meaningful and interesting.
-: Some could find it trivial, a $2 that can help any deck.
History: it's an old card, like back from WDC #3, but it conceptually hasn't changed. The wording has improved over time though. Also the first card I did art for.
Boundary Marker - Action Reserve, $5 cost.
+1 Action
+1 Buy
This turn, cards cost $1 less.
-
When you gain this, you may put it on your Tavern mat. while it's there, when you gain a Victory card costing $3 or more, +1VP per empty Supply pile.
In a featureless landscape, boundary markers are precious, few and far between, and valuable acquisitions, declaring your claim on the land. These have two modes of play, either put them in your deck to get a non-terminal Bridge effect, or put them on your Tavern mat to provide a late game passive boost to gaining Victories. Assess which is the better mode when, and read your opponent well.
+: The interaction between each mode and decision how much of each should make interesting play.
-: The Tavern mat mode can be similar to Duke. The two modes conflict a bit.
History: the initial premise was, VP tokens were in the set, could I create powerful alt VP akin to Goons? It started as a Reserve 'when you gain a card, +1VP'. It could make crazy times, but it didn't feel different enough to Triumph or Goons. So I changed it to 2VP for Duchies. Then I saw how an extra on-play effect with optional gain to Tavern mat created two modes and added on-play Estate milling for VP to stick to the Victories theme. The Tavern mat mode opened up to Victories costing $3-$6, because Mirage Island is in the set. Then I liked the idea of adding empty Supply pile relevance to the set - for the player interaction theme - and changed the Tavern mat mode to 1VP per empty pile as it is now. This wanted to work on Provinces, so the cost range became $5+.
The Tavern mat mode was the clear preference to the Estate milling; it was better than a cantrip, whilst the Estate milling was non-drawing terminal and not very collectible. When a recent WDC favoured cards about empty piles, I twigged non-terminal Bridge, put it on and entered it. It didn't do that well because balance was hard to assess, but the cost reduction clash with the Victory cost range was brought to attention and I decided to reduce $5+ to $3+.
Copse - Action Duration, $3 cost.
+1 Card
+1 Action
You may set aside a card from your hand face down. At the start of your next turn, if it's an...
Action card, play it:
non-Action Victory card, discard it for +1 Card;
neither, trash it.
A lone patch of trees in a harsh landscape provides a much needed resting place for your people and somewhere to bury unwanted luggage. Set aside a card from your hand and do something with it that benefits the typical engine next turn.
+: It's definitely balanced.
-: It's useful, but doesn't feel that interesting overall.
History: this was my very first fan card. It started as just dealing with Actions, with the options of play it, discard it for +2 Cards, or trash it. Then it dealt with other types; play Actions, trash Treasures, discard the rest for +1 Card. Then it got to the less elegant form it has now so it can trash Curses.
Craft - Action Gatherer, $3 cost.
+1 Action
Trash a card from your hand. If it was a Resource, +2VP. Otherwise, gain a Resource.
Local artists and traders know how to make useful things from the resources around them. Take up their tricks to trim your deck and earn VP.
+: Resource trash-for-benefit should be fun and possibly challenging since they're useful. Swapping junk for Resources is random fun but always useful.
-: Sometimes the 2VP benefit is rather generous when a harmful Resource is gotten rid of.
History: look down this first page of posts and you'll see this started giving different benefits for each Resource. You were never going to remember them all, and you'd always suffer analysis paralysis with so many options. I changed it to trash 2 cards, if both Resources +$2 and +2VP, otherwise gain 2 Resources; this was unnecessarily clunky, so now it's this smooth, non-terminal version.
Despoiled Village - Action, $4 cost.
+1 Card
+2 Actions
-
In games using this, when you gain a card, you may discard a copy of it to gain a Despoiled Village.
When you acquire this village, you've already despoiled it of something. Anything you gain can come with a free Village provided you have a copy in hand to discard.
+: Simple with a few neat uses and tricks. Cards that are easier to discard are not so good for the deck, while hard ones to discard are, so there is an elegant balance.
-: It's safe, maybe a bit uninteresting?
History: I wanted a Village that doesn't like Resources, to contrast Hostile Village. It started off with: when you first gain it during the turn, look at the opponents' hands to pick a $4 from them. Interactive, and Resources reduce the chance of hitting something nice. But the mirror play impetus wasn't too fun.
So it became: when you buy this, you may reveal a card costing up to $4 from your hand to gain a copy of that card. I later let it gain $5s to try making it more exciting, but it was still bland; it liked you drawing terminal collisions and playing clumsily. So I changed it to the current version, switching the gain parts around so discarding cheap copies becomes more of an option.
Expedition Camp - Action Reserve Gatherer, $4 cost.
Gain to your hand a Silver and 2 Resources. Put this on your Tavern mat.
-
After you finish playing an Action, you may trash this from your Tavern mat. If you do, each player with at least 3 cards in hand passes 2 to the next such player to their left, at once.
Acquire Resources, then send your people out. It's a two-shot, first gaining useful stuff to hand then sometime later launching double Masquerade, maybe straight away, maybe to pass some undesirable stuff you just gained on, or later when the right cards to send are in hand.
+: Double Masquerade on demand makes thinking about other players' strategies crucial.
-: The Masquerade might be too annoying to be enjoyable, even as a one-shot with added semi-junk.
History: the first Expedition Camp was quite different to this. I had the idea of an Outpost variant with random hand a long time ago, using a deck of special cards. The luck aspect neutralised by the constant function of an extra turn was somehow appealing. I kept it in reserve until I thought of other things for that deck to do, then when deciding to do this set I brought those cards in and they turned into Resources. This Expedition Camp drew 5 fewer cards at Clean-up for the bonus turn, then could be trashed at that turn's start to gain 3 Resources to hand; it also cost $4. It had a novel charm, but I anticipated that would quickly fade if (when) the randomness decided games.
So retaining one nice use of it, a one-shot bundle of stuff, and taking the other in a bonus turn - nice for the set - to morph into an Act, I thought of double Masquerade as a way to remove unwanted Resources from the deck and stuck it on here as a second shot. I had no Silver gainers in the set either and mixed that in as well; pass the Silver on if you don't like.
The drop down to 2 gained Resources encouraged the removal of Water Source; there didn't need to be so many Resources anymore.
Fissure - Action, $5 cost.
+3 Cards
+1 Buy
Change all further +Cards you get into +$ for the rest of the turn.
Heirloom: Rope
Rope - Action Treasure Heirloom, $2 cost.
+2 Cards
+1 Action
Put a card from your hand onto your deck.
One can make a rapid descent down a fissure, but then get stuck. This grants big terminal draw, but it terminates all +card draw for the rest of the turn and it's payload from then on. The Rope can help you dance around this change in various ways, like putting a collided terminal back or turning into + $2.
+: Fissure has interesting interactions with cards in this set.
-: it's maybe a bit too dependent on shuffle order being right, even with Rope to help, or it's too niche.
History: Fissure was a WDC entry that I then thought about adding to Dynasties; but there it was quite swingy. I then had a Reserve variant here in note form that called at start of turn, also big draw that changed the rest to +$, but that could kill the fun of the turn. Repository took its place. Then while thinking about another terminal draw card I came back to the original version, thought how an Heirloom could help the swinginess problem, and here we are. Fissure used to be +4 Cards no buy, which seemed too big a number, and Rope started as a pure Treasure without the +Action.
Hollow - Action Duration, $3 cost.
Either now or at the start of your next turn, choose one: draw until you have 6 cards in hand; or discard any number of cards to gain a card costing up to $1 per card discarded.
A large natural cavity that could serve as a storeroom. It's a really flexible Artificer/Watchtower fusion that's great for adapting to or creating different events. Maybe you save it for next turn to collide it with another Hollow.
+: lots of set synergy and possible interesting uses.
-: Thrones might be too good or easy a combo. Or the mind is overloaded with 4 different play options.
History: This came at a point where there were just 2 kingdom piles left to invent (before removing Water Source for a 3rd). A draw-to-X I saw would have plenty of synergy and help diversify the strategies of the set, so that was the starting point. The rest clicked together quite quickly...somehow. I don't recall the line of thought.
Getting + $1 per card discarded I reasoned was a bit too strong with its self-synergy, so I weakened it to the current Artificer effect minus top-decking.
Hostile Village - Action, $5 cost.
+3 Cards
+2 Actions
Trash a card you have in play that would be discarded during Clean-up this turn.
Heirloom: Creed
Creed - Treasure Reaction Heirloom, $2 cost.
$1
-
When you trash a card, you may trash this from your hand for +1VP per card you've trashed this turn.
This community is far from agreeable, as they adhere to a questionable law code. They'll only work for you in exchange for something, and if you refuse, they leave you. Hostile Village is a super powerful card, but at a hefty cost of trashing something in play; this will always mean itself if nothing else can go. Creed is a one-shot variable amount of VP everyone gets to start with; it can be removed from the deck quickly, or it can become a way to get ahead with a big trashing mega turn.
+: Hostile Village is elegant but skillful, and it provides trashing for Creed whilst allowing for the rest of the kingdom to provide much better trashing alternatives.
-: Hostile Village creates some tracking issues as cards are removed from play whilst having done something for the turn, and maybe it's a little too good with Resources. Creed is a bit swingy with the trashing Heirlooms in the set.
History: I made this for a recent WDC without the Heirloom or limitation to cards discarded this turn, and felt compelled by it. I put it in this set, liked what I was seeing, and felt more drive to continue with it. I added Heirlooms in, thought of Creed by itself, put it on HV to give it trashing, then finally added the cards discarded this turn bit.
Insignia - Treasure Duration, $5 cost.
$1
At the start of your next turn, reveal cards from your deck until you reveal an Action. Discard the rest, then play the Action.
No special connection to deserts here, it's simply a Treasure for someone with influence. It digs for an Action at the start of next turn, like Ghost without Throning.
+: simple, and fits into set themes.
-: maybe a tad strong; in which case, it will have to lose some elegance somewhere.
History: it was another WDC entry that compelled me, and it became one of the set's first cards (along with Astronomer). It was worth $2 - I thought it would be a nice builder card - but that proved too strong.
Key to the Past - Treasure, $4 cost.
Cards in the trash cost $2 less this turn. You may buy a card from the trash.
-
Setup: trash a Gold from the Supply per player, and put an extra Kingdom pile costing $5 in the trash.
Some kind of artefact that gives you a clue to treasures from the past; long lost gold, an ancient people, or more recently lost history. Buy things from the trash, which right from the start includes Golds and something unique.
+: definite combos with the trashing in the set, and access to a random unique card adds constant interest.
-: it's rarely of constant use to the deck, making it either weak or less interesting.
History: there was an Act, Dig, that gained a non-Victory from the trash once per turn. When strong cards were visiting the trash, it made getting them back a bit too easy. This was put together for a WDC, inspired a little bit by earlier fan designs of Treasures accessing a unique pile, with the intention of adding it to this set if feedback was good. It combined other factors I felt were missing from the set as well as fixing Dig; another Kingdom Treasure, and some kind of Gold gaining.
Mirage Island - Victory Reaction, $3 cost.
2VP
-
When another player gains a Victory card, you may put this and any number of Victory cards from your hand on your Tavern mat for +1VP each.
The island that disappears quietly out of your deck, taking other Victories with it. The main difference to Island is it works by Reaction rather than spend an Action, so it rewards thinking about what the other players are doing.
+: There is the potential to make dynamic turnarounds.
-: preparing a hand with lots of Victories in is very risky and may not be viable very often, so that the points potential on average is rather low.
History: it was a WDC entry (winner) at $4 cost, only using the Island mat instead. I have tried this setting just itself aside for 2VP, i.e a Distant Lands variant; it seemed to be more viable for points within the context of this set, but less different. Then testing and design theory suggested going down to $3 cost was OK; opening with two isn't the strongest move that often, and being more accessible helps the reaction work more.
Provisioner - Action Reserve Gatherer, $5 cost.
Gain a card costing up to $5 onto your deck, then gain a Resource onto your deck. Put this on your Tavern mat.
-
During your turn, whenever you have any unused Actions, you may discard this from your Tavern mat for -1 Action.
The provisioner can access local supplies and things much greater, just don't ask him how. You get two cards on your deck, a card up to $5 paired with a Resource. For balance, you need two Actions to use it repeatedly, otherwise it stays on your Tavern mat. Maybe you're finished with using it anyway.
+: It calls for adaptability to the top Resource, and the Tavern mat setback adds some neat functionality to the set.
-: it can nearly get away without the the Tavern mat bit, so this might be a little on the weak side.
History: it started as just the top part, but then it seemed to be deciding a few games if one player opened with it, so now I'm trying it out like this.
Ravage - Action Attack Gatherer, $5 cost.
+ $3
Each other player discards a non-Victory card costing $3 or more from their hand (or reveals they can't) if there are any Resources in the Supply. Those who do gain a Resource to their hand.
You tear through rival territory, rendering it a deserted waste until it recovers. In the short term, a good card in your opponents' hands is downgraded to a Resource, whilst in the long term, their deck may be slightly weakened by Resource 'junk' or strengthened. What they choose to discard may be influenced by the Resource they'll get. They go round the table in play order doing this, and if the Resources empty out part way round, the next players don't have to discard.
+: it's a different way to utilise Resources. The Attack can be interesting and even fun to play against.
-: there's the potential to devastate a good hand, and the potential to save a bad one; overall, this might be too swingy and not work.
History: the attack hasn't changed, but the vanilla bonus was +3 Cards for a time, which felt a little on the strong side.
Redoubt - Action Attack, $3 cost.
+ $2
Each other player may discard a Curse. Those who don't gain a Curse.
Heirloom: Rook
Rook - Treasure Curse Heirloom, $3 cost.
$1
-1VP
-
When you trash this or discard it from play, put it into the player to your left's discard pile.
From atop the mountain pass fortress, your trusty corvid companion flies... Or two things the castle in chess can be called. It's Mountebank without the Coppers, and with a starting Curse to help players defend against it. This Curse can't be trashed, and they're passed around. Maybe you pass yours on, or keep it for a bit.
+: player interaction right from the start that isn't too game-shaping.
-: Is the Curse type on Rook easily understood or even correct? How often is keeping a Rook the right thing to do? Some may not like the great similarity to Mountebank, but others (like me) may appreciate using a weaker variant.
History: this came from two floating Heirloom ideas: one that was passed around, and one that blocked the accompanying card's Attack. Redoubt started off giving +2 Cards at $4 cost, to distinguish it from Mountebank. Then I put it down to $3, to make it more accessible when keeping a Rook. Then I entered it into a Weekly Contest and that persuaded the change to + $2.
Repository - Action Reserve, $4 cost.
Put this on your Tavern mat; you may immediately call it.
-
At the start of your turn, you may call this. When you call it, discard any number of Treasures, revealed, for +2 Cards each.
Heirloom: Permit
Permit - Treasure Heirloom, $3 cost.
You may trash this. If you do, gain a Treasure to your hand costing up to $1 per card in your hand -2.
Safekeeping for your valuables, and a Permit to their services. It's a terminal Shepherd for Treasures, but with the option to save it for a start-of-turn if the current situation isn't ideal. The Heirloom doesn't provide $1 to the starting deck, but it can become a valuable Treasure later.
+: Discarding Treasures can mean a worse hand after the draw, so it isn't trivial to use.
-: Permit's ability may rarely be relevant, if it's correct to make it a Copper at the start most of the time. And some may not like its mathematical instructions.
History: I think I was looking for another terminal draw, and something that liked Treasures because of the Heirlooms. I tried letting the call trigger being when any player plays an Action card, so there could be adaptation to a new situation in an instant; it's a nightmare to program online, I guessed, and also in solo tests I just ended up doing them at the start of the turn and that worked fine. It started at $5, which seemed a bit weak.
Permit used to give + $1 and Throne a Treasure; too strong, especially with the now removed Boomerang. I took the $1 off, then made it need a Gold in play to Throne, then a Silver instead. Then I thought of the current version, which is similar to Throning a Treasure only with the option of sticking to a plain Copper if the extra starting $1 is needed.
Sheikh - Action Duration Command, $4 cost.
At the start of your next turn, play a non-Duration, non-Command Action from the Supply costing up to $5, leaving it there.
Heirloom: Staff
Staff - Treasure Duration Heirloom, $1 cost.
Either now or at the start of your next turn, + $1.
The local man of influence is the sheikh, and he Commands something in the kingdom at the start of next turn. His staff can also be carried over to next turn.
+: It fits the adaptation theme as well as the Seaside-like synergies of the set.
-: the variety of possible interactions is limited with several Durations in the set, and $4 cost might annoyingly be too cheap.
History: it started as a WDC entry called Prospector, a slow Reserve that gained a $6 to hand 2 turns later than when played. There was already Provisioner, which I liked more, so I morphed it straight into this, and stuck Staff on later.
Street Market - Action, $4 cost.
+1 Buy
+ $2
This turn, when you gain a card, you may put it at the bottom of your deck, and when you discard one of your cards from play, you may put it at the bottom of your deck.
The sandy city streets are lined with merchants selling their wares at open air stalls. You can hire out one of these places to increase your buying power and bunch lots of your cards together at the bottom of your deck by gaining and Scheming them there.
+: It's about planning ahead and knowing your deck, so quite high skill.
-: hard to conclude if it's balanced or powerful enough at the moment, there are different deck states in which it shines and others not so much, even during the same game.
History: It was in my notes for a fair while at $5, then I added it to the set part way through realising how it fit with the shuffle control sub-theme. I had a go with it at $3 giving + $1, just in case the set needed another cheap card; it felt less interesting. And then $4 cost seemed balanced.
Sponsor - Action Gatherer, $5 cost.
+ $1 per $1 you've produced with Actions other than Sponsor this turn.
-
When you gain this, you may trash a Resource from your hand.
Financial boost that replicates the efforts of all your other Actions to produce $. The Resources guarantee that it can do something in every game, and each Resource supports it somehow, but the kingdom will still do the heavy lifting and determine how strong it is.
+: a different and hopefully fun payload strategy.
-: perhaps too wild; when it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad, really bad.
History: the initial premise was creating a mini-game of collecting all the different Resources. I first had a terminal Action that cost $3; +1 Buy, + $1 per differently named Resource you have in play. It wasn't reliable enough, so I tried adding +1 Action, still not there, so then a Treasure (if you read through the posts, you'll see it, Display Case). That scaled in power too easily, so I replaced it with this.
Sponsor (then Subsidy) was a WDC entry I put together when I twigged that the constant presence of Ore could make an Action Fortune work; it literally doubled the $ you produced, which I later changed to not include itself when I saw how strong doubling its own $ was. That also appeared too strong when there was another +$ kingdom pile, so I took the +Buy off; you can hunt for Wood if you need +Buys.
The when-gain was 'gain a Resource'. It was only there to make the Gatherer type noticed. Gaining a Resource was a bit strong, so now it's this weak, niche effect. I changed the name to Sponsor at the same time.
Choose one:+1 Action; or move the top Resource of the pile to the bottom. Put this on your Tavern mat.
-
When you have 0 Actions left during your Action phase, call any number of Survivalists. For each one you call, play a Resource from the Supply, leaving it there.
When you're coming to your end in the Action phase, Survivalists help you get through by copying whichever Resource is on top. Stack them up until the right Resource appears, or use them as Villages like CotR.
+: A lot of synergy and combos within the set.
-: could be weak for $4 overall or not that interesting.
History: I've toyed with the premise of Commanding the top Resource ever since I started doing this set. Yet only very recently did I think of putting it on an on-call effect, with the CotR function to give it a consistent function amidst the randomness. The on-play effect was +1 Card +1 Action and it cost $5, but that was like a better Lost City most of the time so it became the current version.
Tinker - Action Reserve, $5 cost.
Put this on your Tavern mat.
-
When you gain a card, you may call this, to trash that card and a card from your hand, then gain a card costing exactly the total cost of the two trashed cards.
He likes to make contraptions by putting all kinds of stuff together. It's a Reserve that triggers on a gain, Forging that gain with another card in your hand.
+: A simple and stackable effect, elegant and powerful.
-: Province milling with them can be a killjoy.
History: it's quite old. It came from the Tinker card I had in Dynasties, which also Forged 2 cards together but was a Night and looked in the discard pile for the first trash. It could hit things you bought, but it wasn't as reliable as this Reserve version. Starting out it felt strong and worthy of being $6, but then less so and it went down to $5.
Vagabond - Action Attack Duration, $4 cost.
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards. Until then, when another player trashes a card, they gain a card costing at most $2 less than it.
-
When you gain this, you may set it aside. If you do, play it.
Heirloom: Begging Bowl
Begging Bowl - Treasure Heirloom, $2 cost.
$1
You may let each other player trash a card from their hand for + $1.
This homeless beggar will give anything for the trash others don't want. Your opponents' efforts to trim the deck are neutralised, slowing them down. This calls for getting in quick, so you can play them straight after you gain them. The Heirloom guarantees trashing is in the game, and uses a new term 'let'; you get + $1 no matter how many opponents choose to trash, even if none of them.
+: trashing is such a powerful mechanic that an Attack countering it feels warranted.
-: 3+ player games with generous Begging Bowl use might be over blindingly fast.
History: Vagabond first gave + $2 next turn, which I changed to cards when Redoubt changed to + $2; a move I'm pleased with, since now there's an Expedition function. It also used to give Coppers out with every non-Copper trash; multiples in play were no fun, especially with trash-for-benefit. Tfb is fun, so why kill that? This still hands out Coppers for Estate trashes, but is more considerate of expensive tfb targets.
The Heirloom was basically there from the start.
Warband - Action Attack, $5 cost.
+3 Cards
Each other player with 5 or more cards in hand sets aside the top card of their deck face up, sets aside a card in their hand that shares a type (or reveals they can't), then puts the set aside cards onto their deck in any order.
Roaming the sandy plains hungry for battle, the warband launches a random attack on your opponents depending on the top card of their deck. Something sharing a type with it is put on top with it.
+: Its randomness can be mitigated by the effect on next turn; a top-decked Action means 2 Actions in the next hand/draw, and a Victory top-deck means a slightly better immediate turn.
-: it can still be nasty enough to determine games, having little control over the effect.
History: it started by applying different effects depending on the type of the card they revealed, like discard down to 3 for a Treasure and gain a Curse for a Victory, but I arrived at the current version - more elegant - before it got to testing.
Warden - Action Duration Reaction, $5 cost.
+1 Action
Now and at the start of your next turn: +2 Cards, then put a card from your hand onto your deck.
-
When another player plays an Attack card, you may play this from your hand.
The keeper of the land can show you the way around and protect you from trespassers. This turn you're sorting out the top of your deck, next turn you also increase hand size by one. If you react to an attack, it becomes non-terminal and lets you make a protective manoeuvre.
+: it's multi-functional and has plenty of set synergy.
-: it shares a lot of similarities to other official Durations. The immediate turn play can feel quite dull.
History: it started without the Reaction and giving +1 Action at $5. Changing it to how it is now made a lot of desirable changes; it could be cheaper, more distinguished from Caravan, more interactive. But then the first turn effect was feeling awkward, I twigged it was rather like terminal +1 Card, then added +1 Action back on and made it cost $5 again.
Accommodate - Act
Choose one: put an Action card from your hand on your Tavern mat for +1 Action; or play a non-Reserve Action card from your Tavern mat.
This opens up your Tavern mat to offering hospitality to all your Actions. You can choose to put an Action you have out of the way, or play an Action you earlier saved at a good time.
+: It opens up more functionality to Actions, enabling more different strategies and combos. And as an Act, it's safe from Adventures token abuse.
-: the way it saves terminal collisions could make it boring.
History: I tried it as a Way, but weird broken stuff could happen. Then a cantrip Action, but that was unreliable. And then it needed the non-Reserve clause added on for the likes of Wine Merchant and Provisioner.
Accrue - Act
Choose one: put a token on your Tavern mat; or remove all tokens from your mat for + $1 each.
Spend a spare Action to either add to an accumulative pile of tokens or spend them all at once. Any kind of token will do, even the VP ones this set would provide, since no token goes on the Tavern mat otherwise.
+: Suitably weak, yet useful enough to incorporate into strategies.
-: the typical opening sees + $1 on turn 2; that can be swingy and/or too big a speedup.
History: I think tokens on the Tavern mat was the starting premise, and then this quickly came together. + $1 on the tokens to distinguish from Sinister Plot and to involve +$ on an Act sensibly (I already had Descend).
Adjourn - Act
+1 Action
For the rest of the turn, set aside any cards you draw from +Cards face down. Put them into your hand at end of turn.
Ambush - Act
Move this onto any Supply pile. (It stays there.) Cards from the pile cost $1 more (before reductions).
Make the roads harder to travel with this global reverse Ferry. Spend an Action to move it onto any Supply pile, and it stays there to show that all cards from that pile cost $1 more, for everyone, all the time. If you don't like where it is, it'll cost you an Action to move it on.
+: interactive and strategic, including self benefits if one doesn't want to be aggressive with it.
-: looking at Livery, it's possible that the official game will eventually get a card that prevents cost increase of the Supply from ever happening.
History: I had an Ambush in Dynasties, a kingdom card that moved a State around non-Victory Supply piles that meant cards gained from the pile were trashed. It could be very rude, especially in the opening. This is a much gentler version.
Conclude - Act
Discard your hand. If you discarded any cards, + $3.
Conclude your Action phase (usually) by discarding your hand for some degree of profit. It's an available $3 if you can make it count.
+: There are various fun ways to incorporate this into an engine strategy, as well as odd occasions outside of engines.
-: it may be narrower than anticipated, not viable very often.
History: I just thought of it about the time I made Fissure. Deciding on + $3 to distinguish from Alms and make 2/5 opening splits less wild is the only point of interest. Late on I changed it from once per turn to checking for any discarded cards, just to squeeze in interactions with things that can get another hand from nothing.
Create - Act
Once per turn: play any number of Treasures from your hand. You may buy a card, gaining it to your hand.
Buy a card immediately to potentially use immediately. A Treasure or Night is fine, but an Action needs you to have 2 Actions left, one for using this first. At the very least this is +1 Buy, just fancier.
+: It has exciting moments.
-: perhaps silly with big money or with buying 2 Coppers in the opening.
History: right back to the early days of my first set Revolution, there was an Action, Innovator, which was all about buying a card to hand. I tried it in many forms before getting tired of it. I flicked through my old ideas for inspiration and found it again. As an Act it could work; it can wait until the time is right, it can be made weak enough and there's only one copy available per turn for balance.
Declare - Act Duration
Name a type. Until the end of your next turn, when any player gains a card with that type, they get +1VP.
Players get to declare what type of card is the preference to gain for a round of turns. The advantage of you spending an Action on this global effect is getting 2 turns of it, and you're aiming to get ahead on VP by making the right declarations.
+: It's an interactive way to get ahead on points, so it should be engaging play.
-: Players have to remember the declared type. It may also cause mirror play. Naming Resource might be too influential and game-shaping sometimes.
History: it stems from Donald's Secret History! There was an Event outtake from Adventures that rewarded Golds for gaining cards with the named type. I felt how it could be compelling, and saw how it could work on an Act by involving the user's immediate turn.
Descend - Act
Once per turn: +1 Action. Discard the top card of your deck. You may put it into your hand; if you do, each other player gets +1VP.
A physical descent down a mountain, or a moral descent in order to get ahead? Once per turn you can choose to play a free Lab at the cost of a VP, getting to look at the card first in case it's bad.
+: simple but effective, a bit like a +Cards variant of Desperation.
-: it can be swingy; it's something of a comeback card, and if it fails to discard something useful when you're already behind, that can feel bad. On the other hand, maybe it's a kingmaker.
History: One of the first Acts. When I twigged how weak they would have to be, I saw that self-inflicted penalties could open the design space up and then this was obvious. It was a Smithy (terminal +2 Cards), which could make the openings too wild. Then it became Lab (+1 Card +1 Action); you really wanted that card to be useful, so I made it discard the card first so you could see what it was.
Devise - Act
+1 Action
Put a card from your hand onto your deck.
Scheme your next turn by saving cards for then, or use an immediate top-deck inspect effect.
+: Simple ability to add to the game that will always be sometimes useful sometimes not, according to shuffle randomness.
-: maybe it's boring, not suiting engine play.
History: very new, it just came like this and the first tests saw interesting use.
Envision - Act
After your Buy phase this turn, you may play Action cards from your hand (that don't use an Action).
Plan out the future of your turn by effectively adding another little phase. You can play Actions between the Buy and Night phases with the advantage of them not costing an Action to play. One Action spent now lets you play multiple terminals after the Buy phase.
+: another new spin on Action cards.
-: could be too niche to be interesting?
History: I first had an Act that played all copies of an Action from hand, which then became differently named ones. The feedback was rightly 'it's just free Actions', too easy. So drawing inspiration from another fan card, alion8me's Lunar Ritual, I arrived at this less easy Village/splitter.
Forage - Act Gatherer
Gain a Resource.
Roam the desert in search of necessities. When the right Resource is on top, you can prioritise an Action on gaining it. Resources are also made available on the opening turns.
+: Simple and effective.
-: maybe too much of an acceleration to the game? I doubt it.
History: it just clicked when thinking of Acts one day, nothing else to say.
Hire - Act Attack
Each other player with 5 or more cards in hand discards a non-Treasure card (or reveals they can't).
Get a local mercenary to do some dirty work on your opponents. This is an Attack, so using it is 'playing an Attack card' for all concerned Reactions and Durations, even if it isn't a card in play.
+: it can't be too damaging early, whilst going late it can force discarded Actions.
-: It's purely an Attack, which isn't popular.
History: All of the Acts are very new, and this one came after Declare being an Act Duration; what other types could I give to Acts to make the whole rule simpler to understand?
Improvise - Act
Once per turn: trash a card costing $3 or more from your hand. Gain a cheaper card; if you gained an Action or Treasure, you may set it aside, and if you do, play it.
Utilise something you have in a different way to fill an immediate need. Downgrade a card in your hand to something cheaper, which you can then play if it's an Action or Treasure.
+: the fact it's once per turn helps prevent option overload.
-: possibly it takes some need for play skill away? Or it's option overload leading to analysis paralysis.
History: Basically no change, I once let it trash things costing $2 then realised why it was $3 when I trashed the starting Estates to Coppers.
Maroon - Act
Once per turn: either trash a card from your hand to put 1VP here, or take all the VP from here.
Abandon your wares in some remote place, where others can rescue them to play the hero. Getting to trash in the opening is very strong, but how big will the VP pile be allowed to get?
+: Significant player interaction.
-: it could speed the game up too much.
History: it just occurred like this...
Recall - Act
Once per turn: put a card you have in play that would be discarded this turn into your hand.
This lets you Throne one of your Action cards for 2 Actions, or a Treasure you manage to play in your Action phase for 1, or do other things with it. You can put the Act card in its place to help tracking, since it is only used once per turn.
+: There's some strategy in choosing what to Throne each turn, if you keep an Action spare for it.
-: maybe not very interesting with Villages, just some free draw? You might forego extra payload for it though. I can't think of anything that negative with it.
History: a Throning Act was amongst the first premises I had, and various forms went through my notes; gain a Curse to Throne (often stronger than Desperation), +1 Action put a card in play onto deck (not as direct, there's already lots of top-decking), replay a card costing $3 or less (could be too easy).
The Set Overall It's gradually coming together. Some of the older cards I'm feeling quite confident in, newer ones probably need balancing out.
+: I'm feeling definite, interesting interactions, and potential for skillful play! There's a good amount of potential variety in viable strategies, though some feel distinctly more dominant at present. Balance amongst different card functions (draw, village, payload, etc) feels right.
-: tracking is a prominent issue running through several cards here, so this set won't be for everybody. Swinginess and heavy alteration of the opening can impact games too much, taking more audience away. The first games can be very confusing.
History: as I mentioned at the start, I had focused my attention on mostly skill and serious play with my first 2 fan expansions, then decided to explore a focus on randomness and player interaction.
I tried
Weather here, but concluded that there wasn't much potential to adapt to them, and often players would plan their next turn and they feel good, but then the weather makes unpleasant changes to that.
Acts had their start in
Wanderers. They also used an Action to be activated, but there was a pile of them and the top one went to the bottom after it was finished with. They weren't once per turn, so they could take some of the relevance of the kingdom away.
Acts were all once per turn and their card was always moved into play; but with the Fan Mechanic contest on Acts, naitchman had the bright idea of multiple use Acts and now they are as you see them.
Thank you for reading. I hope it was interesting in some way!
