Weekly Design Contest #110: (This stays in play)Design a card that stays in "play". It should stay in play for the remainder of the game, and have a continued active benefit/reason while doing so.
The two main official examples are:
Hireling and
Champion, as they explicitly state "
(This stays in play)". Hireling gives you an extra card to start each turn. Champion is a very powerful card (unlimited actions and permanent protection from attacks) but is hard to get as it's at the end of a Traveler line.
Another borderline example, which I would accept, is
Prince. It uses the "set aside" mechanic, which generally would not be acceptable for this contest (such as
Crypt which is only set aside for a limited time and
Island which gives no active, ongoing benefit but just passively takes it and another card out of your deck). Prince does not stay in "play", but is effectively doing the same thing as the cards above - giving you an active, ongoing benefit at the start of each turn for the rest of the game (assuming you remember to do it every turn!)
Reserve cards also don't count. They are effectively "set aside" too, and the only official card intended to stay there is Distant Lands, which is similar to Island. Other Reserve cards don't intend to stay on the Tavern Mat for the rest of the game, since they offer a benefit once they are called.
I expect most (if not all) cards will be Duration cards to achieve this contest's goal (unless you can come up with a clever, well-designed card like Prince). If you want your card to be the final one in a Traveler line (like Champion), I recommend you post the full line of cards - only the final one will be judged, but its interactions with the rest of the line will likely be important to understanding its design.
Criteria for judging your cardsInteraction and fun: The card should look like it will be fun to play with. It should interact well with existing cards, mechanics, and strategies (use only official mechanics - not additional fan mechanics). It should be fun to play with 2 players or with 4 (or even 6).
Balance: I will not be playtesting submitted cards, but will use my judgement as to how balanced they seem. The price and functioning of the card should not have any obvious problems. Minor text corrections being required (to be in line with official wording) is not a problem, and there can be edge cases which break your card or the game (that's normal with new/unique designs), but it should make sense to play with the vast majority of official cards.
Text length: Cards should be elegant and easy to understand. They do not need to be "simple", but they do need to be clear and not require lengthy additional rules to explain how they work. (In this case, Prince would not score as well as something like Hireling).
Submission and deadlineThe newest/submitted version of your card should be clearly indicated in your original submission post (with any earlier submissions clearly indicated as no longer current). When you update your submission, please also make a new post stating that you are updating your submission (this is helpful for the next 6 days, but it is mandatory within the final 24 hours of the contest).
I intend to give a 24 hours warning around noon on Friday, April 9th (and will post current submissions at that time), with the contest closing at noon on Saturday, April 10th.