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Author Topic: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season  (Read 9175 times)

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NoMoreFun

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #25 on: July 07, 2021, 03:01:00 am »
+1

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)
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fika monster

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #26 on: July 07, 2021, 05:40:17 am »
0

Going with the original 20 turn year.



Since you can usually only draw cards you bought on turn 3 and forward, that essentially gives you a normal time window of 1 turn to get the spring bonus of 3 coffers. May be something to be aware of for highrolls

oh, oops

?

They said their version of Seasons had 20 days/turns in total; 5 for each Season. Spring thus last 5 turns. Substract the first 2 turns, and you've got T3, T4 and T5 for Spring, which is exactly the turns that occur between your first and second shuffle. In normal circumstances, you are obligated to see Pirate Treasure in your hand in Spring, ready to be used for 3 Coffers.
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emtzalex

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #27 on: July 07, 2021, 12:46:40 pm »
+1

Also its a good thing to mention here, that the classic cantrip trasher for $4.5 thing is calculated for optional trash.
I don't follow you here as Ratcatcher is the only optional cantrip trasher. My reasoning is simple: Junk Dealer and Upgrade are the benchmark and show that a pure cantrip trasher has to be cheaper than $4.

Quote
Using Hideout as a baseline for mandatory trash, it's closer to $4.
Hideout is really a tricky beast as it does more and less than a cantrip trasher. I think that a cantrip trasher is stronger than Hideout; thrice not really trashing hurts a lot. Of course Hideout is the more interesting card, especially in Kingdoms without other villages (in which you thus somehow welcome the slow trashing).
As Hideout is tricky to evaluate I admit that it is absolutely not clear that a pure cantrip trasher would be OK at $4. I don't think so but could be totally wrong.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether Rats would be stronger or weaker without the self-gaining (I'm thinking stronger, the self-gain makes it so you're just replacing junk with other junk if it's the only trasher). But I don't think a Cantrip Trasher could exist at any price, for the following reason: If Rats minus the self-gain would be weaker, then Cantrip Trasher would be strictly worse than Rats and thus too weak for , but I think it'd be too good for . If it would be stronger, it would be too strong for , but strictly worse than Junk Dealer.

Then again, JD lets you trash Coppers without losing anything, which is quite a massive step up from Cantrip Trashing. So maybe it's fine at .

I think Rats is pretty clear neither strictly better nor strictly worse than a plain cantrip trasher would be. Especially in a game with strong junking, a single copy is not all that effective in thinning your deck. The self-gaining that Rats does vastly accelerates the trashing, but, as you point out, if you don't have anything left to trash, can leave you with what is effectively just as many junk cards as you got rid of (and to the extent you were trashing Coppers, much weaker junk). Absent something to do with those cards, this is generally not worth it, and you probably should not buy rats.

However, there are plenty of circumstances when buying Rats does make a lot of sense. One is with certain Ways. I played a game with Way of the Mouse which set aside Chariot Race. I opened with Rats, which were able to quickly trash most of my junk (roughly doubling the number of them every shuffle), and when there was no junk left to trash I would play them using the Way. Since my deck was filled with Rats, on turns when my opponent's top card was an Estate, Copper, or Silver, I was able to play it multiple times as a Peddler+VP. While that's an extreme example of enhancing Rats, several other Ways would also provide good options: Pig, Horse, Goat, Mule, Butterfly, Turtle, and Mole all have decent potential to make Rats fairly useable. The other obvious helper is other trashing, especially trashing for benefit. Basically all of the trash-for-benefit cards (especially Apprentice, Bishop, Research, Scrap, Upgrade, and Ritual, but also Sacrifice, Forge, Salvager, Zombie Apprentice, Goatherd, and Raze) are solid complements.

Also, a cantrip trasher is, in a way, not really a cantrip, because the end result is not the same number of cards in your hand; you end up with one fewer. JD turns the worst card in your hand into a Copper and removes it from your deck. Upgrade turns it into a one-shot gainer that often fails to gain anything (when what you trashed costs $0 and nothing in the Supply costs $1). Rats does the same, but one that always gains Rats. In addition to not thinning your deck quickly, a cantrip trasher would still slow you down on at least some of the turns it was used. Put another way, in my experience, the biggest drawback of Cathedral is not that it might make you trash a good card late in the game; it's that you play the rest of the game with a 4 card hand. The cantrip trasher has essentially the same effect.
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exfret

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #28 on: July 07, 2021, 03:08:21 pm »
0

I think the "cycling" mechanic of seasons is really difficult to accomodate. I'd much rather have things like Husbandry, like "for each season/year passed". Is this okay?
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #29 on: July 07, 2021, 06:11:28 pm »
+1

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)

Just want to let you know, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this card is a delayed lab, with varying degrees of delay (with Autumn being equally strong as lab). However in Winter, this card is a double Lab. A double lab is pretty significantly stronger than a lab, DonX tested it at $8 and it was still too strong. Its okay that winter be a really strong effect, stronger than the cost would suggest, but that is pretty overboard. I suggest having Winter discard a card after gaining horse to hand. That way its +3 cards, +1 Action, discard a card. Still strictly stronger than lab, and still easily the strongest of the four seasons, without it being too crazy. Otherwise, I really like the card!
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Gubump

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #30 on: July 07, 2021, 06:16:41 pm »
0

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)

Just want to let you know, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this card is a delayed lab, with varying degrees of delay (with Autumn being equally strong as lab). However in Winter, this card is a double Lab. A double lab is pretty significantly stronger than a lab, DonX tested it at $8 and it was still too strong. Its okay that winter be a really strong effect, stronger than the cost would suggest, but that is pretty overboard. I suggest having Winter discard a card after gaining horse to hand. That way its +3 cards, +1 Action, discard a card. Still strictly stronger than lab, and still easily the strongest of the four seasons, without it being too crazy. Otherwise, I really like the card!

Cantrip + gain a Horse onto your deck isn't "equally strong as Lab."  It would only be equivalent to a Lab if you actually draw the Horse in the same turn. It's hyperbolic to call a card that's only a Lab if combined with another Cantrip "equally strong as Lab". You're right about Winter being a double Lab, though.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2021, 06:19:06 pm by Gubump »
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #31 on: July 07, 2021, 09:44:16 pm »
+1

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)

Just want to let you know, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this card is a delayed lab, with varying degrees of delay (with Autumn being equally strong as lab). However in Winter, this card is a double Lab. A double lab is pretty significantly stronger than a lab, DonX tested it at $8 and it was still too strong. Its okay that winter be a really strong effect, stronger than the cost would suggest, but that is pretty overboard. I suggest having Winter discard a card after gaining horse to hand. That way its +3 cards, +1 Action, discard a card. Still strictly stronger than lab, and still easily the strongest of the four seasons, without it being too crazy. Otherwise, I really like the card!

Cantrip + gain a Horse onto your deck isn't "equally strong as Lab."  It would only be equivalent to a Lab if you actually draw the Horse in the same turn. It's hyperbolic to call a card that's only a Lab if combined with another Cantrip "equally strong as Lab". You're right about Winter being a double Lab, though.

I didn't say "equivalent to" I said "equally as strong as". Setting up your next turn with a horse is about as good as getting +1 card now. There are definitely situations where you'd rather have a horse top-decked then get +1 card now, for example when you've already drawn your whole deck. With a drawn deck, autumn is *stronger* than a lab. Autumn is not a lab, but there are situations where it stronger than lab, and situations where it is weaker, and imo those occur about equally often. That's all that is meant by equally strong as. Autumn wrangle is to lab as Supplies is to peddler, they're not the same, but they are about as strong.
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Gubump

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #32 on: July 07, 2021, 10:56:55 pm »
0

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)

Just want to let you know, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this card is a delayed lab, with varying degrees of delay (with Autumn being equally strong as lab). However in Winter, this card is a double Lab. A double lab is pretty significantly stronger than a lab, DonX tested it at $8 and it was still too strong. Its okay that winter be a really strong effect, stronger than the cost would suggest, but that is pretty overboard. I suggest having Winter discard a card after gaining horse to hand. That way its +3 cards, +1 Action, discard a card. Still strictly stronger than lab, and still easily the strongest of the four seasons, without it being too crazy. Otherwise, I really like the card!

Cantrip + gain a Horse onto your deck isn't "equally strong as Lab."  It would only be equivalent to a Lab if you actually draw the Horse in the same turn. It's hyperbolic to call a card that's only a Lab if combined with another Cantrip "equally strong as Lab". You're right about Winter being a double Lab, though.

I didn't say "equivalent to" I said "equally as strong as". Setting up your next turn with a horse is about as good as getting +1 card now. There are definitely situations where you'd rather have a horse top-decked then get +1 card now, for example when you've already drawn your whole deck. With a drawn deck, autumn is *stronger* than a lab. Autumn is not a lab, but there are situations where it stronger than lab, and situations where it is weaker, and imo those occur about equally often. That's all that is meant by equally strong as. Autumn wrangle is to lab as Supplies is to peddler, they're not the same, but they are about as strong.

Sure, they're about as strong, I agree with that. But "about as strong as" is not the same thing as "equally as strong as." It's slightly weaker imo, and it would certainly look odd for a Cantrip that gains a one-shot Lab onto your deck to cost the same as a Lab (although it would also be very clearly too strong for ).

Setting up your next turn with a Horse is about as good as getting +1 Card now.

If you play a Cantrip that gains a Horse onto your deck and you do not draw that Horse until next turn, that's +1 handsize to next turn and net 0 handsize this turn. That's equivalent to Caravan, which is a , and not even one of the crazy s.

I do absolutely agree with you that Wrangler is currently too strong. The Summer and Spring effects would be overpriced at , probably even at , but Autumn would be an upper-mid and Winter is insane.

This last part's just my opinion, not really a balance concern, but I think Seasons cards should sidegrade themselves between Seasons, rather than being strictly better during certain Seasons than others.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2021, 11:03:43 pm by Gubump »
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Aquila

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #33 on: July 08, 2021, 02:55:25 am »
0


I'm in favour of X-tra's 3 turn cycle starting with 2 winters, so that's what this card uses. $4 might be too cheap.

Edit: a better-coloured mock-up.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2021, 04:33:04 am by Aquila »
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #34 on: July 08, 2021, 11:50:22 am »
+2

Made tracker art for the 12-turn starting in winter version:


(not a graphic designer so please feel free to critique the design)


I was on the fence before but the more I think about the more confident I am that this version of seasons is likely the best. It guarantees a play in spring for the first shuffle, you'll actually be able to see winter in a large majority of games, and the next spring doesn't start until turn 15, the most common turn games end. It will play identically to the 20 turn seasons until turn 9, where you would be in Autumn here but have 2 more turns of Summer in the former, so I think this version is a great compromise. Also of course, has a nice parallel with IRL by starting in "January".
« Last Edit: July 08, 2021, 11:51:56 am by The Alchemist »
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fika monster

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #35 on: July 08, 2021, 04:21:26 pm »
0

Made tracker art for the 12-turn starting in winter version:


(not a graphic designer so please feel free to critique the design)


I was on the fence before but the more I think about the more confident I am that this version of seasons is likely the best. It guarantees a play in spring for the first shuffle, you'll actually be able to see winter in a large majority of games, and the next spring doesn't start until turn 15, the most common turn games end. It will play identically to the 20 turn seasons until turn 9, where you would be in Autumn here but have 2 more turns of Summer in the former, so I think this version is a great compromise. Also of course, has a nice parallel with IRL by starting in "January".

I like this change: may i use the rule change for my card?
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #36 on: July 08, 2021, 09:01:55 pm »
0

I like this change: may i use the rule change for my card?

Of course, go ahead! It's X-tra's idea after all, and I just remade the original graphic I posted so it would look more dominion-y (matching font for numbers and text too).
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exfret

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #37 on: July 09, 2021, 01:50:23 am »
0



This uses The Alchemist's version of Seasons, where we start in winter. To explain the debt cost, I was afraid of weird interactions possibly with cost reducers, but there are no debt cost reducers so it's good. Also, I'm doing a debt-based expansion, so debt cost seemed fun.

Since most games end before turn 15, this is usually at most a +1 card/+4 Action card with an average of about 2 actions across the game. Even in slog games that last, like, 30 turns, sure you'll have that one turn with 10 actions, but that doesn't do much so it doesn't really become oppressive. Now, if it gave cards instead of actions that would be something... but it doesn't. In fact, the main drawback seems to be the fact that even if it gives a lot of actions you need to still rely on drawing it (where with something like Port, drawing is more reliable), so I feel like it's pretty balanced.

Hope it looks interesting, too!
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mxdata

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #38 on: July 09, 2021, 02:22:57 am »
0

24 Hour Notice
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #39 on: July 09, 2021, 04:03:38 am »
+1

I don't usually do this, but I like NoMoreFun's card enough that I want to make the card art for him, and its said when a submission has no art. I made one with his original design, and one with my wording and balance suggestion in case they want to use it.

Original:


My suggestion:

This version just makes what you put in the rules clarification explicit. I know its not strictly needed, but Don X felt he had to put (instead of your discard pile) on cards that were gained onto your deck, so I don't think its something that's obvious enough to be left out of the card. (Similarly to how hireling doesn't strictly need this stays in play but does anyway).

Obviously I'm partial to the latter, but up to NoMoreFun which one (if either) they'd like to use for their submission.
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mathdude

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #40 on: July 09, 2021, 11:03:05 am »
0



Quote from: Encounter
$4 - Night
In Spring: Gain a card costing up to $4.
In Summer: Exile a card from the Supply costing up to $5.
In Autumn: Gain a gold.
In Winter: Look at the top 6 cards of your deck. Discard any number and put the rest back in any order.
-
This is gained to your hand
(instead of to your discard pile)

This submission uses the original 12-turn season (starting with 3 spring turns).  The gain to hand helps accommodate it.  I wanted it to be a Night card, but also match the cycle through the seasons - starting growth in the Spring, continued growth in the Summer (but it doesn't always grow the way you intended in poor weather, like if you can't gain another of that card to get the one out of Exile), cashing in when you sell crops in the Autumn, and cleaning out the field in Winter.

I'm not overly tied to the name/image of the card, but it's all I've got for now.  Maybe you had a strange encounter at night that helped you with your crops!  (I had initially called it Crop Circles, but  that tied in to the theme of what the card does even less).

Edit: the Summer should be "from the Supply" for the Exile. I'm on mobile at the moment and can't update the picture.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2021, 05:05:20 pm by mathdude »
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emtzalex

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #41 on: July 09, 2021, 11:21:56 am »
0



Quote from: Encounter
In Summer: Exile a card costing up to $5.

From where?
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #42 on: July 09, 2021, 01:00:09 pm »
0



Quote from: Encounter
In Summer: Exile a card costing up to $5.

From where?

Anywhere. Abduct your opponent's duchies right out of their hands and swipe them to your exile.
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #43 on: July 09, 2021, 01:06:38 pm »
0

If NoMoreFun intends to use the ordinary 20 turn season (he has not posted that he wants to deviate from the standard) the Winter nerf is likely not necessary.

You make some good points. Let's go ahead and modify the rules then, for a 12-turn "year". If anyone wants to go with the original 20-turn or a different number like 16, they can do that too, just specify that that's the intention

Assumed by this we were making 12 turns the default, and opt-in to 20 turns. I personally don't like "Winter is past when the game would usually end by anyway, so its fine if the bonuses are overpowered" solution. I agree winter should be the strongest bonus, but a double lab at $5 is a bit excessive.
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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #44 on: July 09, 2021, 05:05:54 pm »
0



Quote from: Encounter
In Summer: Exile a card costing up to $5.

From where?

From Supply. I've updated, except not the card image.
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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #45 on: July 09, 2021, 11:23:59 pm »
0



This uses The Alchemist's version of Seasons, where we start in winter. To explain the debt cost, I was afraid of weird interactions possibly with cost reducers, but there are no debt cost reducers so it's good. Also, I'm doing a debt-based expansion, so debt cost seemed fun.

Since most games end before turn 15, this is usually at most a +1 card/+4 Action card with an average of about 2 actions across the game. Even in slog games that last, like, 30 turns, sure you'll have that one turn with 10 actions, but that doesn't do much so it doesn't really become oppressive. Now, if it gave cards instead of actions that would be something... but it doesn't. In fact, the main drawback seems to be the fact that even if it gives a lot of actions you need to still rely on drawing it (where with something like Port, drawing is more reliable), so I feel like it's pretty balanced.

Hope it looks interesting, too!

I'm making it cost one less:

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mxdata

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #46 on: July 10, 2021, 01:56:07 am »
+1

Submissions Closed

I will be providing judgment shortly later today
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mxdata

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #47 on: July 10, 2021, 04:24:26 pm »
+2

Twelve entries, an appropriate number for the theme!
Alright I've tweaked the card a bit:


Now each individual effect is reasonably a $4.5, which is nice because it offers a way to bring those 4 cards into the game where right now they can't be standalone. A mix of cards that could have been. Spring is inspired by Wind's gift, Summer by Fire's gift, Autumn was Earth's gift inspired but now its more Field's gift, and now Winter is Snowy Village inspired.

A nice strong card, and I think fairly-priced. All four of its effects are definitely good cards. My only concern is with the Winter effect. Since you can only get the +3 Actions in about 1/4 of the game, it would be hard to take full advantage of that. If there are other villages in the game, then a lot of the time you'll end up with enough extra Actions anyways, so that those +Actions would be redundant - while if there aren't any other villages, then you have a case where extra Actions are only available in Winter, so you wouldn't want a whole lot of non-terminal Actions anyways.  Still, it's a good card, and the seasonal theme works nicely

Finalist



Quote
Compost • $4 • Action - Season
Trash a card from your hand.

In Spring, you may also trash a Copper from your hand.
In Summer, gain a card costing exactly $1 more than it.
In Autumn, gain a card that shares a type with it; if it costs more, trash this.
In Winter, gain a Victory card that costs less than it.

Power remodeler/trasher. Designed with a 4-turn season (16-turn year) in mind, starting with T1/2 being in winter, T3 starting spring.
the autumn one might be a little too bananas. idk.
Tried to color-match one of segura's old season cards, which iirc used asper's original colors.

I think Autumn is definitely overpowered without some limitation. You could turn an Estate into a Province or Colony, or a Copper into a Gold or Platinum, and with Fortress you could gain any Action card. And there are also times when gaining equal- or lower-cost cards would be beneficial too. It would be especially strong in games with Lurker, Graverobber, and Rogue, where you could rescue Compost and/or the card you trashed from the trash - and since you don't have "differently-named", you could just trash a card for another copy of itself, then rescue the original card. The other three seasons, though, are good effects. Works nicely with a 16-turn year too. In Spring you'll be trashing your Estates and Coppers. Summer is essentially a non-Cantrip version of Upgrade. With Spring starting on turn 3, Winter would start on turn 14. At that point, turning Golds into Duchies would often be a good move

The Autumn effect is the only part that I'm really iffy on. Does the fact that it has to trash itself to upgrade a card compensate for the fact that it can upgrade without any cost-limitation? I think in the end I'm going to have to say that the Autumn effect is too strong for this to be a finalist

My Submission:


Quote from: Werebear
WEREBEAR  $5
ACTION - RESERVE - SEASON
+4 Cards
In Fall and Winter, put this on your Tavern mat.

At the start of your turn, in Spring, Summer, or Fall you may call this for +1 Card in Spring or +2 Cards in Summer.
                                                                                               

A take on Werewolf, it does not do anything different at Night, but instead hibernates during Winter.

Interesting use of the Reserve mat here. The on-play effect is strong, the same as Hunting Grounds. Hunting Grounds has an additional when-trash benefit and doesn't send itself to the Reserve mat, so the fact that it costs a little less than Hunting Grounds is justified. The effect of calling is interesting. I suspect most of the time you'd want to call it at the start of Spring rather than wait until Summer. I would drop the ability to call it during Fall. But, overall, a good card

Finalist



Quote
Granary - $4
Victory - Season
1VP
-
When you gain this, if it is...

Spring, trash 3 cards you have in play.
Summer, gain a non-Victory card costing up to $5.
Fall or Winter, +1VP, +1 Coffers.

A victory card that has a variable on-buy effect. Encourages early purchases of what amounts to an Estate. Late game it is pretty much a $3 cost 2VP card, but with trash for benefit cards it could be a good purchase.

Definitely a card you'd buy for the on-gain effect.  Assuming the 12-turn, starting in Spring version, this would make an interesting opening. You could easily trash 3 Coppers right away in the opening. Maybe even 6 Coppers if you buy it on both T1 and T3, but trashing that many Coppers that soon is often a bad move. Buying it in Summer would essentially be the equivalent of an Event costing $4 that said "Gain a non-Victory card costing up to $5 and an Estate" (unless there's trash-for-benefit of course, which would make this more useful than an Estate). I wouldn't say that late game is equivalent to a $3 cost card, since, if you gain it in your buy phase you can't use the Coffers until your next turn (barring Villa or Calvary), but still, 2 VP for $4 wouldn't be a bad buy near the end of the game. And gaining it during your Action phase would let you use that Coffers on the same turn

Finalist

I haven't posted a card in the fan mechanic contests in a while! But that Season idea is very appealing, so I'll take a crack at it. My card is tied with this version of Seasons:



The table show what Season it is for each turn. An average game of Dominion thus ends on the last day of Winter, which is kind of neat. Turn 3, when you have your first deck shuffle and actual cards in it you can use, marks the first day of Spring, to make better use of that Season.

With that being said, here is my card:



This is an interesting take - and also means that if the game extends out to a second "year" (and games longer than 14 turns are by no means uncommon), then it's different in the second Spring vs the first Spring. In the first Spring it's basically a Copper that double curses - a really strong attack! But the fact that the attack only happens in Spring ameliorates that. Double-cursing would be far too strong if it could happen every turn. In Summer it becomes a slightly-overpriced silver, but then in Fall it's a cheap Gold, and in Winter its even stronger. If you get to a second Spring, it becomes a Platinum that double-curses!

This is a tricky one to judge. I think it's also a bit swingy. Spring lasts from T3-T5. This means that a player who bought this in the opening is guaranteed to be able to play it at least once - but there's also a chance of being able to play it a second time, on T5, with a lucky reshuffle. Furthermore, if the game reaches T15 (start of second Spring), then player 1 will have a really strong advantage, if there are no other cursing attacks or moats. Assume that both players opened with Four-Leaf Clover and both played it only once during first spring.  That means there's six Curses left going into T15. Since this is at least as strong as Gold from Fall on, you'll probably have bought up several of these during the game. So, on T15, with Spring starting anew, player 1 is likely to be able to play more than one of these. If they're able to play 3 or more, they'll run out the Curse pile with Platinum-equivalents! Of course, if there are other cursing attacks, then the Curse pile will likely be empty by that point

Overall, I fear this is broken

Going with the original 20 turn year.



Thematically the idea is that the loot diminishes over time with all the Pirates plundering it.
Obviously a controversial card with non-terminal Coffer yield and potentially too strong. You can get the sweet Spring bonus only once but then this is still a powerhouse in Summer. In Fall it is a lousy Ducat and in Winter it does nothing.
One obvious way to nerf it would be to use a 16 turn year.

You could get that Spring bonus twice with a lucky reshuffle on T5, but yes, most of the time you'd only get it once. With the original 20-turn year, it's also pretty uncommon that you'll end up in a second Spring, so you can basically write it off as useless after T15 (well, if this is the only +buy, it might still be useful just for that), but there are plenty of Action cards that become less useful in the late game, so I don't think a Treasure card doing the same thing is bad. I rather like this idea. It kind of reminds me of a reverse Fool's Gold, in that Fool's Gold tends to become more valuable later in the game when it becomes easier to line up multiple copies. An unconditional +1 Buy +3 Coffers at $4 would be massively overpowered, but since you're only going to get that effect once, or twice if you get lucky, that's not a problem. I think this is an interesting card, and well-balanced

Finalist



Like emtzalex's Werebear, this also requires two mats for one card (counting the season tracker as a mat), so that's an interesting bit of extra set-up. The gaining might be fairly weak in a lot of games, since you can typically only accumulate tokens during T3-T6, assuming you're going with the 12-turn year, so it would probably be hard to accumulate enough tokens to make its gaining worthwhile. If the game extends past Winter, it would basically be just a simple +2 Cards - you'd have to go all the way to a second Fall - T19! - to use any tokens accumulated after Winter. Overall, I fear this is a bit weak




EDIT: This (also) uses X-tra's 12-turn version of the season mechanic.

I don't think you need (this is a season card) on the project itself. Technically, it's not even accurate to call it a card, but also, it seems unnecessary to me to reference that at all. I'm not so sure that the project would be useful. Ice Queen is very strong in Winter, but the rest of the year, it becomes a junk card, like a Ruined Village that topdecks itself, and since the gaining is not optional once you buy the project, your deck could end up with lots of these. So, a card that's junk 3/4 of the time and strong the other 1/4 doesn't seem like something I'd want to go for in most games. Although, in games with trash-for-benefit, the $5 cost could be useful, and its auto-topdecking would make it easier to line up with trash-for-benefit cards. But, in most games, I think this would end up being one to avoid

Wrangler
Action/Season - $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a Horse...
In Summer: to the bottom of your deck
In Autumn: onto your deck
In Winter: to your hand

Rules clarification: In Spring, you Gain a Horse (to your discard pile)

I agree with The Alchemist's comment that it's probably best to explicitly state what happens in Spring. But that wording won't affect the judging. This is definitely a good card. A cantrip Horse-gainer is rather strong. Indeed, just non-terminal Horse gaining in general is - note that none of the official Horse-gainers are unqualified non-terminal - and I like how it works with the season mechanic, with each season bringing the Horse closer to you. In Winter, you have it right away, allowing this to function as a double-lab - or you can save the Horse if you don't need to draw any more cards (or have already drawn your deck), so the added flexibility makes it stronger than a simple +1 Action +3 Cards would be. In Autumn it will often be available on the same turn you play it, but if not, then in your next hand. Summer's is interesting. Gaining to the bottom of your deck is a space not used in any official cards. If you play several of these during a Summer turn (or Throne/KC it), then you'll have a lot of draw lined up for a later turn!

Finalist


I'm in favour of X-tra's 3 turn cycle starting with 2 winters, so that's what this card uses. $4 might be too cheap.

Edit: a better-coloured mock-up.

This is an interesting one. Spring's effect is weaker than Bridge, which adds +$1. Winter is like a Sleigh or Calvary with an extra buy added, and no reaction or on-gain effect. Summer and Autumn's effects are also pretty good for $4. So, overall, I think that this is probably a decent card at $4



This uses The Alchemist's version of Seasons, where we start in winter. To explain the debt cost, I was afraid of weird interactions possibly with cost reducers, but there are no debt cost reducers so it's good. Also, I'm doing a debt-based expansion, so debt cost seemed fun.

Since most games end before turn 15, this is usually at most a +1 card/+4 Action card with an average of about 2 actions across the game. Even in slog games that last, like, 30 turns, sure you'll have that one turn with 10 actions, but that doesn't do much so it doesn't really become oppressive. Now, if it gave cards instead of actions that would be something... but it doesn't. In fact, the main drawback seems to be the fact that even if it gives a lot of actions you need to still rely on drawing it (where with something like Port, drawing is more reliable), so I feel like it's pretty balanced.

Hope it looks interesting, too!

I'm making it cost one less:



So this is basically a free card in the opening. But since it's just a simple cantrip in Spring, and doesn't become a village until Summer, you're probably not going to open with it, unless you have a 5/2 opening with no good $2 cards, making that not a serious issue. It's interesting in that it allows more non-terminal actions to be purchased later in the game, since it automatically becomes a stronger village over time. A simple idea, but very cool. The only part I'm not crazy about is the debt cost, which feels kinda weird, and prevents the use of any gainers for this. The format of the cost icon also looks a bit weird to me, having "0 debt" as the stated cost, but since the variable cost is in debt and not coin, that's probably the best solution. Also, the name is a bit out of place in Dominion, but that's a minor nitpick

Finalist



Quote from: Encounter
$4 - Night
In Spring: Gain a card costing up to $4.
In Summer: Exile a card from the Supply costing up to $5.
In Autumn: Gain a gold.
In Winter: Look at the top 6 cards of your deck. Discard any number and put the rest back in any order.
-
This is gained to your hand
(instead of to your discard pile)

This submission uses the original 12-turn season (starting with 3 spring turns).  The gain to hand helps accommodate it.  I wanted it to be a Night card, but also match the cycle through the seasons - starting growth in the Spring, continued growth in the Summer (but it doesn't always grow the way you intended in poor weather, like if you can't gain another of that card to get the one out of Exile), cashing in when you sell crops in the Autumn, and cleaning out the field in Winter.

I'm not overly tied to the name/image of the card, but it's all I've got for now.  Maybe you had a strange encounter at night that helped you with your crops!  (I had initially called it Crop Circles, but  that tied in to the theme of what the card does even less).

Edit: the Summer should be "from the Supply" for the Exile. I'm on mobile at the moment and can't update the picture.

There's one major issue I see here: the fact that you gain this to your hand in Spring would let you instantly pile it out. Then in Summer you could pile out the Duchies, putting them into Exile. Now you only need one more pile to end the game. That seems rather broken. I'd suggest adding "non-Night" to the Spring gaining. I'd also add "non-Victory" to Summer's Exiling, because being able to Exile Duchies seems rather strong for $4. It's a cool idea, but I think that, as it is, it doesn't really work

A lot of good entries in this contest! It was very hard to choose a winner

Winner: Emtzalex's Werebear
First runner-up: Nomorefun's Wrangler
Second runner-up: Segura's Pirate Treasure
Third runner-up: Xen3k's Granary
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The Alchemist

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #48 on: July 11, 2021, 05:13:40 am »
+2

Thanks for judging! I really enjoyed this week's contest, the season mechanic is really interesting, I'd love to see more cards using it! I really enjoy the 12 turn season starting in Winter, I just played a playtest with it and its super cool how a year ends right about when the game does on average. Good entries everyone!
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emtzalex

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Re: Fan Card Mechanics Week 14: 'Tis the Season
« Reply #49 on: July 11, 2021, 12:49:51 pm »
+1

Thanks mxdata, for judging and for the win. I will post the next contest shortly.
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Thanks to Shard of Honor for his Extended Version of the Dominion Card Image Generator, which I use to mock up my fan cards, and to Violet CLM, who made the original.
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