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[faust]

Alright, possibly this mechanic is just on my mind because I'm getting married in a month, but let's do it!

I am introducing a new keyword: combine.

You can be instructed to combine any number of cards. To do so, you set them aside together, in order, with some numbered token, and you take the corresponding card from the combinations pile (not in the supply) and put it in your discard pile:


The Combination card gets all types that are on any of the cards set aside with its numbered token. When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Here is a simple example of what a card using the keyword might look like:


Some additional clarifications:
- the cost of the Combination card is the sum of all costs of the combined cards, including Debt or Potions
- the name of the Combination card is the string "[first_card_name] + [second_card_name] + ...". Thus, two Combination cards are considered to have the same name if and only if they are made up of the same cards in the same order (the +s are in the string so that the new name doesn't accidentally turn out to the name of an existing card)
- there are 30 numbered Combination cards by default, and if there is no Combination card left, the setting aside fails. You may specify a different number of Combination cards for your submission though.
- the set-aside cards are not returned to the deck at the end of the game. However, the Combination card is worth any VP of a card it is made up of.
- any when-gain, when-buy or when-trash effects of the combined cards are ignored for the Combination. Other below-the-line effects (while in play, Reactions etc.) carry over to the Combination.
- cost reduction lowers the cost of a Combination by 1, not 1 times the number of cards it is made up of.

Good luck!

[infangthief]

Alright, possibly this mechanic is just on my mind because I'm getting married in a month, but let's do it!

Congratulations.

Nice idea (the mechanic. And also getting married.)

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

[jakav]

My submission for this contest is Grow:

Grow • Cost: 2 • Action +1 Action You may combine a Victory card and another card from your hand.

FAQ: You first get an action, then you combine a victory card from your hand with any other card from your hand.

Feedback is appreciated.

I also have a bunch of questions:

Shouldn't non-landscape cards have a type to tell you to bring out the combination pile?

Can a combination be combined again?

Does it only take one Action to play a combination, not combining the action cost? Or does it take two?

Do combinations essentially have this wording?

Play all the set-aside cards with the first token, in the order that they were set aside.

[Joxeft]

Trapper - Action - Cost: 4 Combine this with another action card that you have in play that dose not move when it was played.

The idea is to pile up actions even when its combined with other cards.

Feedback is appreciated.

[Erick648]

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

I'd assume not, or combining Fortress with a self-trasher would let you play it infinite times.

[faust]

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

I think given Erick's observation, it will be safest to say that below-the-line effects are ignored, though in spirit I would want that to be possible.

[faust]

Shouldn't non-landscape cards have a type to tell you to bring out the combination pile?

No? They're not part of the supply. Spoils and Spirits do not require a special type on cards that use them.

Can a combination be combined again?

Yes.

Does it only take one Action to play a combination, not combining the action cost? Or does it take two?

It takes one Action (or none if the Combination card has Treasure or Night type).

Do combinations essentially have this wording?

Play all the set-aside cards with the first token, in the order that they were set aside.

More or less, but this is not a perfect representation. For one, the Combination card may carry a VP value. Also, playing a Combination only counts as a single card play for cards like Conspirator.

[infangthief]

Do combinations essentially have this wording?

Play all the set-aside cards with the first token, in the order that they were set aside.

More or less, but this is not a perfect representation. For one, the Combination card may carry a VP value. Also, playing a Combination only counts as a single card play for cards like Conspirator.

And it makes a difference for things like vanilla tokens from Adventures. If you were playing all of the set-aside cards then you would get bonuses from any tokens on any of the piles. If you're just following the instructions on each card then you don't.

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

I think given Erick's observation, it will be safest to say that below-the-line effects are ignored, though in spirit I would want that to be possible.

That's a shame. Does this mean you only get the VP value of a card if it is not a below-the-line VP?

[infangthief]

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

I think given Erick's observation, it will be safest to say that below-the-line effects are ignored, though in spirit I would want that to be possible.

How about Combination cards getting a rule that something special happens to them when you trash them? Like, you return it to its pile and trash its set-aside cards. First, before any other "when you trash" effects.
That would allow them to do below-the-line stuff without running into the Fortress problem. (Though there may be other similar problems I haven't thought of.)

[faust]

A question:

When you play it, you execute all on-play instructions of the set-aside cards in order. That's it! Effectively, all the cards you combine become a single card!

Can a Combination card do below-the-line things like reacting, or "while this is in play" things?

I think given Erick's observation, it will be safest to say that below-the-line effects are ignored, though in spirit I would want that to be possible.

How about Combination cards getting a rule that something special happens to them when you trash them? Like, you return it to its pile and trash its set-aside cards. First, before any other "when you trash" effects.
That would allow them to do below-the-line stuff without running into the Fortress problem. (Though there may be other similar problems I haven't thought of.)

I think making a special trashing rule may be confusing. I have now modified to this:

- any when-gain, when-buy or when-trash effects of the combined cards are ignored for the Combination. Other below-the-line effects (while in play, Reactions etc.) carry over to the Combination.

It's also not ideal, but the best I could come up with to maintain most of the functionality.

[infangthief]

Do combinations essentially have this wording?

Play all the set-aside cards with the first token, in the order that they were set aside.

More or less, but this is not a perfect representation. For one, the Combination card may carry a VP value. Also, playing a Combination only counts as a single card play for cards like Conspirator.

And it makes a difference for things like vanilla tokens from Adventures. If you were playing all of the set-aside cards then you would get bonuses from any tokens on any of the piles. If you're just following the instructions on each card then you don't.

Hmm, if Combination cards don't have any wording on them, then combining a Combination card might not actually do much. (If I'm just following the instructions on the set-aside Combination card, not actually playing that card, all I find is "this is not in the Supply"!)

Perhaps the Combination 1 card should say something like "See set aside group 1"?

[infangthief]

EDIT 26th May - only combine with a Treasure you bought, not just gained some other way.
EDIT 28th May - withdrawing this idea, buying Treasures is no fun, and it does seem a bit broken if you have a way to thin your deck.

Withdrawn v0.1 and v0.2:

[Joxeft]

Here's my entry:

Magnet
$5 Treasure - Night

$1
If it's your Night phase, combine this and a copy from the Supply of a Treasure that you have gained this turn.

I think that you limit the combine to once and say something like this. If it's your Night phase and this is not a combination yet then combine this and a copy from the Supply of a Treasure that you have gained this turn. This is because that this in some big money decks can sock up and win the game really fast making them about as good as golds or better.

[infangthief]

I think that you limit the combine to once and say something like this. If it's your Night phase and this is not a combination yet then combine this and a copy from the Supply of a Treasure that you have gained this turn.

I was trying to make a self-combining card that can grow and grow.
To make this one grow you have to put some effort into it - you have to buy (or gain) a Treasure (which is not often something you want to do), and also you have to skip playing the existing Combination in your Buy phase, so you're probably wasting the $ this turn.

But perhaps it is still too powerful, you might be right. And I was thinking your self-combining Trapper entry was even more crazily powerful!

[fika monster]

Beep boop


V3 with improved wording (appearently i cant spellcheck)

V4: Ok this should hopefully be maxifully clear.

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may choose an action they would discard from play and combine it with a Burden, putting it into their discard pile.

Burden
Action, $1*
+1 Card
Discard two cards.

(this card is not in the supply)

There are Thirty Burdens in the Non-supply, +10 for each additional player

[Augie279]

The Workshop of combiners because why not. Can do a lot but needs time to build up its skills.

[LibraryAdventurer]

Partnership
$5 - Treasure
+$2.
You may trash a non-Copper card you have in play to combine any two other cards you have in play.

I think the Combine example Event in the OP is strong enough to cost $5. It'll be a strong effect.

[GendoIkari]

Beep boop

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of another player's Clean-up phase, you may combine a Burden with an action card they would discard from play.

Burden
Action, $1*
+1 Card
Discard two cards.

(this card is not in the supply)

There are Thirty Burdens in the Non-supply, +10 for each additional player

Where does the non-Burden card come from here? Do you take it away from the player who would discard it, or do you get a copy of it from the supply and use that?

[LibraryAdventurer]

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of another player's Clean-up phase, you may combine a Burden with an action card they would discard from play.

Where does the non-Burden card come from here? Do you take it away from the player who would discard it, or do you get a copy of it from the supply and use that?

"An Action card they would discard from play" seems pretty clear to me.

[Gubump]

Beep boop

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of another player's Clean-up phase, you may combine a Burden with an action card they would discard from play.

Burden
Action, $1*
+1 Card
Discard two cards.

(this card is not in the supply)

There are Thirty Burdens in the Non-supply, +10 for each additional player

Where does the non-Burden card come from here? Do you take it away from the player who would discard it, or do you get a copy of it from the supply and use that?

I assume the intent is that the opponent combines their to-be-discarded Action with Burden, making it "worse."

@fika monster: If this is the intent, then this is misworded as the rules for combining are stated, as you'd steal your opponent's card as worded. This is my suggestion, assuming my interpretation of your intent is correct:

Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may have them combine a Burden and an Action they would discard from play.

[Gubump]

[GendoIkari]

Beep boop

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of another player's Clean-up phase, you may combine a Burden with an action card they would discard from play.

Burden
Action, $1*
+1 Card
Discard two cards.

(this card is not in the supply)

There are Thirty Burdens in the Non-supply, +10 for each additional player

Where does the non-Burden card come from here? Do you take it away from the player who would discard it, or do you get a copy of it from the supply and use that?

I assume the intent is that the opponent combines their to-be-discarded Action with Burden, making it "worse."

@fika monster: If this is the intent, then this is misworded as the rules for combining are stated, as you'd steal your opponent's card as worded. This is my suggestion, assuming my interpretation of your intent is correct:

Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may have them combine a Burden and an Action they would discard from play.

Oh that makes sense, and is a really neat idea for an attack!

[Joxeft]

This is way to good with 1 lab and a barge this is about as good than buying 4 labs which cost $20 and 4 buys for just $8 and 1 buy. I think that you should make this cost like 10 or make it combine 2 $4 cards instead of 2 $5 cards and make it cost $7.

[spineflu]

I went and made a knights-esque unique pile for this.
Sorry in advance. I'll include some commentary about how each one is different.
It should only need 10 Combination cards, since I think I effectively locked out recursion.

General overview:
Each farmer allows terminally* combining of two* differently-named* Action cards*, which lets you take the respective combination card. The farmer stays in your deck and acts as a BoM-esque command card for specifically the cards it* set aside; the cards set aside do not change or shift once set aside*.

Things with an asterisk aren't on every card - that's one of the parameters I played with.

The randomizer.
Mister James • $5 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 3 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Mister James can combine THREE differently named non-Farmer Action cards.	Mister Owen • $4 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Mister Owen can combine cards with the same name, and costs $1 less.	Mister Patrick • $4 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Mister Patrick can combine any non-Farmer type of card. He also costs $4.
Mister Sam • $5 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand, putting the taken combination card onto your deck. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Mister Sam topdecks the combined card, a one-time benefit.	Missus Shoshana • $4 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there, and if it produces $, +$1. Missus Shoshana gives a $1 boost if you set aside a card that makes money, and costs $4.	Mister Markus • $5 • Action - Farmer +1 Action If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Mister Markus is non-terminal
Missus Annie • $5 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine a non-Farmer Action from your hand with a non-Farmer card from the Supply costing up to $4. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. Missus Annie does a pseudo-gain for one of her cards to combine.	Mister Alex • $4 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using one of your Farmers, leaving it there. Mister Alex can play cards set aside by any of your Farmers, not just his own.	Mister Gendo • $6 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action or Victory cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there. - Worth % equal to the Victory card(s) combined using this. Mister Gendo can combine aside Victory cards and effectively doubles their points (once from the combination card, once from his own ability). He costs $6 as a result.
Missus Errin • $5 • Action - Farmer If this card has not combined other cards yet, combine up to 2 differently named non-Farmer Action cards from your hand. Otherwise, play one of the cards combined using this, leaving it there; you may replay it, and if you do, trash it. Missus Errin can blow up her own set aside cards (weakening the combination card, admittedly) to replay them.

[infangthief]

Self-combining on-play (as tried by both Joxeft's "Trapper" and my "Magnet") causes weirdness (if the combining can happen more than once).

The weird thing is that you can end up with a Combination's constituent cards going awol from its set aside area.

Suppose, by combining, you get Combination 1, whose on-play effect includes: "Combine this and X. Trash this."
Now you play Combination 1:

• You combine Combination 1 with X, setting it aside with X and a "2" token, and putting Combination 2 in your discard pile.
• You trash Combination 1, moving it from set aside to the trash. This works because it was Combination 1's own effect which set it aside, so it knows where to find itself to trash itself.

Now what does Combination 2 do when you play it? Presumably it just does X. That is all that is set aside with the "2" token - Combination 1 is no longer there!

The same happens if you self-combine with anything that can move itself. "Trash this", "Set this aside", "Put this on your Tavern mat", "Exile this", "Combine this(!)" etc.

Joxeft, I think your Trapper entry almost avoids this, by only allowing you to combine with a card that is in play (so it must be a card that did not move itself when it was played). But it could still happen because of cards which have optional trashing/moving; you could combine Trapper and Death Cart (which was still in play because you trashed a different Action card with it). So Combination 1 is Trapper+Death Cart. Then when you play Trapper+Death Cart, you could combine it with Village, then you could choose to trash it (i.e. trash Combination 1). So Combination 2 came into existence as Trapper+Death Cart+Village, but quickly became just Village. And Combination 1 (Trapper+Death Cart) is in the trash, available to be gained by anyone with a Lurker.

I'm thinking this is not really a problem, just unexpected weirdness.

And yes, Magnet can combine with another Magnet. Magnet+Magnet could combine itself with X, to briefly create Magnet+Magnet+X, before combining itself with Y. End result is you have two new combinations: X, and Magnet+Magnet+Y.

This is crazy and fun. At least, I think so. Thanks faust.

[infangthief]

Here are some wacky things that could happen if you combine official cards:

• Scepter combined with an Action card could replay itself forever.
• Madman or Spoils combined with anything could cause Combination cards to end up in Madman or Spoils piles. (Would this prevent future gains from these piles?)
• Patron+Moat could give you unlimited Coffers (since the ruling is you can reveal Moat multiple times to a single Attack).
• Falconer+Falconer is a double-Province gainer (or double-Platinum, to your hand).

Also, I've updated Magnet (post #12) so you have to actually buy a Treasure, not gain it some other way.

[infangthief]

I went and made a knights-esque unique pile for this.
Sorry in advance. I'll include some commentary about how each one is different.
It should only need 10 Combination cards, since I think I effectively locked out recursion.

General overview:
Each farmer allows terminally* combining of two* differently-named* Action cards*, which lets you take the respective combination card. The farmer stays in your deck and acts as a BoM-esque command card for specifically the cards it* set aside; the cards set aside do not change or shift once set aside*.

Things with an asterisk aren't on every card - that's one of the parameters I played with.

How do you keep track of which Combination was created by which Farmer?
Or by "the respective combination card" do you mean that you have Combination cards called "Combination James" etc, rather than "Combination 1" etc? And also tokens with the names rather than the numbers.

[spineflu]

I went and made a knights-esque unique pile for this.
Sorry in advance. I'll include some commentary about how each one is different.
It should only need 10 Combination cards, since I think I effectively locked out recursion.

General overview:
Each farmer allows terminally* combining of two* differently-named* Action cards*, which lets you take the respective combination card. The farmer stays in your deck and acts as a BoM-esque command card for specifically the cards it* set aside; the cards set aside do not change or shift once set aside*.

Things with an asterisk aren't on every card - that's one of the parameters I played with.

How do you keep track of which Combination was created by which Farmer?
Or by "the respective combination card" do you mean that you have Combination cards called "Combination James" etc, rather than "Combination 1" etc? And also tokens with the names rather than the numbers.

yep, exactly: "James's Combination", "Sam's Comination", etc.

[Galaxi]

Initially I really tried to make some kind of card which combines cards of your choosing. But I kinda feel like that has a lot of issues like balancing, specific card combinations as pointed out by others, and also many ideas really just turn into variations of the example card. Then I tried some simpler ideas like for instance victory cards which combines with stuff when you buy them, but it's really not that interesting. So my conclusion was that combining specific cards was the route I wanted to take. This also allows for creating multiple different cards using the mechanic that can all be interesting on the same board, which I feel is important when creating a new mechanic(why create a mechanic just for 1 card you know). So here's what I made:



With say 30 Examiners in its pile.

Edit: Realized now that I put a * instead of + on Overseer, but I'm to lazy to fix it 

[Joxeft]

(My submission has been updated so it doesn't have movement problems.)

[emtzalex]

My Submission:

Serfdom • $4 • Event
Combine a non-Action Victory card in your hand with 1 Serf you have in play per $2 it costs (round down).
Setup: Add the Serf pile to the Supply.

Serf • $1 • Action
+1 Card
+1 Action

FAQ:
In games using Serfdom, add the Serf pile to the Supply. There are 24 copies of Serf, all of which are used.
Serf is a Kingdom card, but there is no randomizer for it. You only play with it when using Serfdom.
When you Buy this, you combine a Victory card (which is not also an Action card) from your hand with one Serf you have in play for each $2 the Victory card costs, rounding down. Thus, an Estate (costing $2) would combine with one Serf, while a Duchy (costing $5) would combine with two Serfs.
Serfdom only works with Serfs you have in play, not ones in your hand or discard pile.
In order to combine a Victory card with Serfs, you must combine the right number, so need to at least that many in play. Thus, if you buy Serfdom with three Serfs in play, you could not combine a Province (costing $8), as you do not have enough Serfs. However, you could combine an Estate (costing $2) with one of the Serfs you have in play.


Congratulations on the marriage, faust!!! Here's wishing you both many years of happiness.

My submission is Serfdom. It's an Event which lets you combine copies of Serf--a pure cantrip costing $1, a 24-card pile of which is added in games using Serfdom--with Victory cards. This can turn Estates into cantrips, Duchies into Lost Cities, and Provinces into crazy triple-LCs (if you can successfully collide 4 Serfs in play with one of them one).

I am aware that there is technically an accountability issue, as a player could buy Serfdom and lie, saying they don't have a VC in hand when they really do. However, a player never has to buy Serfdom, so there's really no point in deceptively doing so (as opposed to, for example, the OG Throne Room, which might get involuntarily played by Golem or Herald, and could force a player to play a harmful Action card from their hand.

[infangthief]

New submission (I've withdrawn my previous entry, Magnet).

EDIT 29th May - Changed name because Mule was already taken, and added "discard your hand" after a small amount of playtesting.
EDIT 1st June - Changed "discard your hand" to "return this to its pile".

Way of the Turkey
Way

You may combine two differently named Action cards from your hand. Return this to its pile.

FAQ: The Action cards you combine must be differently named from each other. It does not matter whether either has the same name as the card you are playing as Way of the Turkey.

Turkey because of the turkey in "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" poem.

Previous:

[Galaxi]

"Way of the Mule" is an official card. Was this an oversight?

[infangthief]

"Way of the Mule" is an official card. Was this an oversight?

Oops. I thought it was familiar, but couldn't see it when I checked the Ways!
I will come up with another hybrid animal. Yakalo?
Thanks.

[fika monster]

hi sorry i was  on a camping trip and couldnt respond/update

ill will update the card later today

[fika monster]

Beep boop


V2 with improved wording

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may have them combine a Burden and an Action they would discard from play.

Burden
Action, $1*
+1 Card
Discard two cards.

(this card is not in the supply)

There are Thirty Burdens in the Non-supply, +10 for each additional player

Improved wording on fallen city

Non-relevant Note: Burden draws 1 card and then discards 2 cards, cause that seemed a bit more fun then just "discard a card". That way, in some games, You get sifting or can discard the cards you dont want for Draw to X engines, and maybe thats good for you! so Fallen city becomes more situational. altough its still a strong attack i think.

[Galaxi]

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may have them combine a Burden and an Action they would discard from play.

Says "Until then" twice, phases -> phase. With the current wording it's also a bit unclear who chooses the action to get combined with Burden. Without further context I would assume that they choose which action.

I like your name btw :3

[infangthief]

I think you've now updated the wording again, and it is back to the wrong player doing the combining again. My understanding is that the player who does the combining is the one who ends up with the Combination card in their deck.

Fallen City
Action Duration Attack, $5
At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards +1 Action.

Until then, at the start of each other player's Clean-up phases, you may choose an action they would discard from play and combine it with a Burden.

Just change the "and" to a ". They" and you should be fine.

[fika monster]

asdasd me and grammar

[faust]

It is time for the 24 hour warning!

[fika monster]

Updated to V4

[Xen3k]

Profane Grafting - $3+
Event
When you buy this, you may overpay. You may discard a card costing up to the amount you paid. Gain a cheaper card with different card types as it, Combining them.

An event that allows Combining cards that do not share types. I tried to make it so you could not avoid the cost of the card you gain and prevent upgrading the starter cards. There will still be bonkers combinations that can be made, but it will still require some work. Feedback is appreciated.

[infangthief]

Updated Way of the Turkey.

[navical]

Way of the Buffalo
Way
Combine this with a Buffalo.

Buffalo
Action, $1*
+1 Action
(This is not in the Supply.)

Effectively, apart from all the ways in which it's different, Way of the Buffalo terminally gains a Village. And it makes your card cost $1 more, sometimes you'll be able to do interesting things with that.

[scolapasta]

@faust, when are you getting married? Congratulations! I am also having a wedding in late June!

On to my entry:

From when the contest started, it was clear that combinations could become very strong, so the way to temper is to make sure you can only with weak cards - what weak card can we make available in every game? Ruins!

I wasn't sure how exactly to best make this work until I saw Way of the Buffalo, above. I hope this entry is different enough, I think it is, since it's only the same when the top ruin is Ruined Village.

So basically, you can sacrifice a play of your Action card in order to make that copy a little stronger for the future. And it should be fun to figure out which of your action cards pairs best with the top Ruin.

Way of the Vulture - Way-Looter
Combine this with a Ruins from the Supply.

[faust]

This fan mechanic had a bit more pitfalls than I imagined. But I hope everyone still had fun. I won't subtract points if there are infinite combos due to the implementation of the mechanic.

It is time for the results!

Augie279: Renaissance Man
This seems very strong. I would maybe avoid allowing Treasures, Silver is always a good addition and makes Renaissance Man nonterminal. Seems fun to build these up though.

emtzalex: Serfdom
It's fun to think how this can turn Duchies into Lost Cities and Provinces into unholy abominations. But it's quite a lot of work to do so. I think it evens out at "if there is spammable +Buy, this will be strong; otherwise ignorable". I feel like you'd only want to get Serf if you have exactly $1 or $2 to spend, and in the absence of lots of +Buy that doesn't happen all that often.

fika monster: Fallen City
I love the idea of using Combinations as an Attack! It might be good if the order of Burden/other card was somehow predetermined, that seems like a decision that is just annoying to make and only has a minor effect most of the time. But it's hard to fit into the text. Otherwise, this is cool. Maybe it favors Big Money too much? But I think probably not.

Galaxi: Overseer
There is value to restricting to a specific card to combine with I think, but I'm not convinced that Examiner is it. Spy was removed for a reason, and these will be even slower.

Gubump: Chimerism
You just get a mighty Action! I like the simplitcity. It has been pointed out that comining non-terminal cards with terminal draw is very good. Too good for this to exist? Well, Lost Arts also exists, so I think it's fine.

infangthief: Way of the Turkey
It seems like Way of the Turkey makes cards without piles very useful (Necropolis?! Or Black Market cards). Maybe it should be contingent on successfully returning the card. It's also not clear to me whether you card return a Combination, and what happens if you do. Other than that, it seems fine. It's interesting that Ways kind of antisynergize with Combinations, so the cost of combining stuff goes up.

jakav: Grow
This lets you get rid of Estates... and then some. Once you have combined some Estates with other stuff, you can keep going! This is starting the get scary... I think a nonterminal $2 is quite too generous for this effect.

Joxeft: Trapper
I'm not sure exactly how to parse this; I assume it wants to prevent combinations with any card that could self-trash or similar. I think the condition is a bit unclear but let's roll with it. The main potential issue I see here is that you might condense your deck down to like 5 Combinations that just do everything you ever want, and any extra cards that you gain are gobbled up. It's costly to begin with, but I assume this resolves itself quickly. An issue that I have is that it seems like you want this early so you can get powerful combinations, but if you get it too early you won't be able to use it. Maybe that means it evens out? It's hard to tell. Also this requires nonterminal Actions in the kingdom or it's just dead, which is a bit of an issue.

LibraryAdventurer: Partnership
I'm unsure what the "other" means here. Other than Partnership? Other than the card you trashed? Anyways, this seems reasonably strong. It's less exciting than some other entries but maybe that means it's also less broken. I would suggest allowing this to also trash Coppers (but not giving the combine benefit when you do), just so it has something to do when you draw it with like 3 Coppers. Also, Durations should probably not be valid targets for either effect.

navical: Way of the Buffalo
You can put a +Action on any Action. Neat! How many Buffalos are there though? 30 to match the 30 Combinations?

scolapasta: Way of the Vulture
THis is much like the above but I think I like it less. Part of that is the problem of what happens when Ruined Market is the only +buy. And on the other hand there are duds; like it doesn't seem very appealing to forgo an Action play just to tack a Survivors on.

spineflu: Farmers
I think using this mechanic with a Knights-style pile is just a bit much for me in terms of complexity. Also it seems like these are pretty slow; you have to be able to reliably draw them with 2 other Actions and by the time you are able to do so how much use will you even get out of the Combination?

Xen3k: Profane Grafting
From the card text it's not quite clear to me that the cards may not share types, but it's explained in the post, so that's fine. This could be pretty good on Silvers if you have cheap $2 Actions. And of course you can alway turn your Estates into VP Coppers, but that's kind of expensive. I think this is solid, the balance seems to work.

Lots of fun ideas here that I would love to try!

Runner-up: Chimerism by Gubump

Winner: Fallen City by fika monster

[faust]

@faust, when are you getting married? Congratulations! I am also having a wedding in late June!

Congratulations to you as well! You'll be first then, my wedding is on July 2!

[fika monster]

nice! thanks, ill whip something up quickly

[infangthief]

Good contest.

It's also not clear to me whether you card return a Combination, and what happens if you do.

Good catch, I hadn't thought about that.

But actually, it is a more general point that would need clarifying about the combine mechanism. As things are written it would seem that Combination cards can be returned to their pile (and not just by Way of the Turkey, but also by WotHorse, WotButterfly, Swap and any Combination involving a Horse, a Wish or a traveller). But then what happens to the corresponding token and set aside cards? I guess it's ok for them to remain as they are? Then if later in the game a new Combination is made, the token moves to the new set aside cards and the old ones remain set aside without a token.

So, er, all ok perhaps.

It's a sign of a good mechanism that things do seem to work themselves out ruleswise. But definitely an FAQ would be needed for stuff like this!

[emtzalex]

So, I have a number of thoughts on this mechanic, and designed several additional cards. I've been slammed at work, which is why I didn't post any of this sooner, and I'm actually going to break this into multiple posts.

One big question I had about this mechanic, in terms of design for it, is how strong is the capacity to combine cards (and, in particular, to combine Action cards). My first impression is that combining Action cards is incredibly strong. It is not hard to think of 2 card combinations that are extremely powerful. There are obvious examples:

Smithy	+	Village

and some less obvious, but very strong examples, like

Tactician	+	Watchtower

Highwayman	+	Tide Pools

Even if you put some kind of a cumulative price limit on the combo, you can still get incredibly powerful combos with cheap cards, like...

Moat	+	Scheme

...which is a double-Lab you get every turn, and gives you complete protection from attacks (that is even stronger than Champion as, unlike Champion, you have the option to hold back Moat + Scheme when you want to be affected by the attack), or...

Courtyard	+	Native Village

... a net-LC which thins from your deck (while keeping for scoring purposes) a card each turn (by topdecking it, then setting it aside with NV).

Now, these are specific combos, but some obvious patterns emerge: pairing non-terminal cards (especially cantrips) with terminal cards (especially terminal draw), you get the added strength that terminal cards provide with no risk of a terminal collision. Combining cards that move themselves with cards that you benefit from always/usually having can allow you to have that other card far more than you otherwise would.

Taking a step back to think more analytically, there are three ways in which combining Action cards provides a huge boost to their power:

Two-for-one: When you think about Action cards and what they do, one useful tool is to imagine that every Action card (when played normally from your hand) has a hidden “-1 Card, -1 Action” on it; you play the card from your hand (reducing your handsize by one) and spend an Action to play the card. Thus to the extent a card is a “cantrip” (e.g. gives “+1 Card, +1 Action”) it leaves you in the same position as if you hadn’t played the card, and anything you get in excess of that (+1 Action from Village, +1 Card from Lab, +$1 from Peddler) can be said to be the “net” effect of the card. When you combine two Action cards, the hidden effect of playing both of them from your hand goes from being “-2 Card, -2 Actions” to being a regular “-1 Card, -1 Action.” That means the net-effect of combining any two Action cards is +1 Card, +1 Action, or a Lost City. Lost City is underpriced at $5 (which is why it gives you a penalty in the form of a bonus for your opponents), so it should almost always cost at least $5 to combine two Action cards (this is an oversimplification, because the LC you get from combining cards can only be played together with those 2 cards, as opposed to an LC that goes into your deck and can combine with any cards for extra Cards/Actions).

Collisions – Once two cards are combined, they will always be played together, in order. This can be incredibly powerful. The most obvious examples are to combine terminal cards (especially terminal draw) with non-terminal cards. Because of the hidden LC, they don’t even have to be villages, anything that gives +1 Action makes the whole package non-terminal, and quickly turns into an incredibly powerful card.

Following cards played not from your hand – the last advantage is a somewhat more obscure one, and only helps in a limited number of contexts. In almost every other case, when you play an Action card, you have to play it from your hand. That means it has to be in your hand immediately before you play it. By combining cards, you can play subsequent cards not from your hand. This means that even if the first card empties your hand (i.e. with Tactician) or works better without Action cards in your hand (e.g. Shanty Town), you can play them, and play another Action right after them. The only way to do this will official cards is with Golem (which gives you almost no control over what the 2 cards will be) with a Throne variant and a Way (which only lets you play the Way and the card you Throne as the different options), and by setting up multiple cards to be played at the start of your turn (using Delay, Way of the Turtle, certain Durations, etc.) which is limited both in needing those cards to enable it, and in happening at the start of your turn (so you can't first play the cards you have, which is what you'd want to do for, say, Tactician + DtX).

All of this suggests that combining cards, especially Action cards, needs to be subject to some important limitations. It either needs to be expensive (at least $5), or it what is being combined needs to be subject to some important limitations. I tried to keep that in mind when I was designing my cards.

[emtzalex]

One idea I had to use the mechanic which was not explored that much in the contest submissions was to combine different types of cards to allow them to be played during different phases of the game. Specifically, cards that exist to combine with a playable card of a different type, to enable them to be played either outside of their regular phase and/or without spending an Action (think Capitalism). So:

Clerk • $2 • Action +1 Action +1 Buy When you gain this, +1 Buy and combine this with a non-Duration Treasure card you have in play.

Clerk turns a Treasure into disappearing money. This is only an advantage in a limited number of circumstances (dtx, Tactician, throne variants), so it is fairly inexpensive (costing just $2 and no Buy), and also throws in a +Buy to make it useable in other contexts. It probably should say non-Action non-Duration Treasure card, to keep players from stacking them, although doing so is of somewhat limited value (unless you really need a village).

Bankers' Village • $5+ • Action +1 Card +2 Actions +1 Buy When you buy this, you may overpay for it. If you do, combine it with up to one Copper you have in play per $1 you overpaid.

Bankers' Village is another Action that combines with Treasures, but in this case it primarily enables the Action card, rather than the Treasures. If you overpay (and have Coppers to combine), BV becomes an Action - Treasure that is playable during either phase. Originally it was $4+ and didn't have the +Buy, but it occurred to me that at that price, buying it for $5 cost the same as Bazaar while being almost strictly better (in that it thinned a Copper and was playable during the Buy phase) with an almost meaningless on-buy restriction (needing at least 1 Copper in play). Thus, this price point, which is generally weaker than Grand Market (although providing an extra +Action) at $6, but ends up being a reverse GM (requiring you to have 2 Coppers in play) at $7.

Now, a village might be the archetypal example of an Action you don't want to play during your Buy phase. The +1 Card it gives you could well be an Action you draw dead, and the +Actions are of little to no use. However, in addition to some synergies with cards like Black Market and Storyteller, there is a more general advantage in that you tend to want villages with terminal cards (especially terminal draw), but if you don't get them in the right order and draw the village terminally, you usually can't do anything with it. Here, you'll at least get the $.

Mask • $3+ • Treasure +1 Buy When you buy this, you may overpay for it. If you do, you may combine it with an Action card in your hand costing the amount you overpaid.

Mask is the reverse of Clerk, turning Action cards into Action-Treasures. Since this is more widely useful (making any card you play it on non-terminal), I wanted it to cost more, and, in fact, to incorporate the cost of the Action card you are looking to add it to. However, this is too expensive, and it should probably be either $1+ or $2+. There's not much concern here over stacking, as the price just keeps getting larger for very little benefit.

Night Shift • $3 • Night Put a card from your hand onto your deck. When you gain this, combine an Action card you would discard from play this turn with this.

Night Shift turns Action cards into Action-Night cards, letting you play them without spending an Action, but only during your night phase. Some effects will fully work during your Night phase: gainers, attacks, getting villagers/coffers, trashing, and Duration effects. This card makes you topdeck a card from your hand, which is both meant to represent the tiredness of working a Night shift (whether played during the day or at night), but also helps if the Action has a +Card(s) effect, allowing the player to put one of the cards back for next turn.

Early Bird • $4 • Dawn You may return this to the Supply for +$3 and +1 Buy. When you gain this, combine it with an Action card you would discard from play this turn.

Early Bird uses Week 3's Dawn mechanic. As I noted in my post-contest post about that one, a Dawn - Action card creates an interesting effect; when played during your Dawn phase it doesn't cost and Action, thus providing 2 versions of the card with 1 set of instructions. Here, Early Bird's on-play ability only works if it didn't combine with anything (because otherwise you can't return it to the Supply), and refunds most of its purchase price so you can try again.

[emtzalex]

I made a handful of other cards.

Little Fish • $2 • Action - Duration You may play a card with "Little Fish" in its name from your hand. If you have more than one Little Fish in play that you didn't play this turn, combine them. At the start of your next turn, +1 Card.

Fish swim in schools, so they seemed like an ideal card to self-combine. Little Fish will chain, but is otherwise a dead card the turn you play it, and on the following turn only gives you +1 Card. But, if you can put more than one into play, and manage to play another one on your next turn, all the ones you played will combine into a single card, which will draw you more cards on following turns. Once combined, they will continue to chain, but will not re-combine.

Pandora's Box • $5 • Treasure Gain a Curse. Reveal cards from the Pandora deck until their total cost, ignoring discounts, in $ is greater than $6. Combine the revealed cards. Setup: Make a Pandora deck out of different unused Action cards costing less than $5.

This is one of my favorites, if a bit out there. Each time you open Pandora's Box, you get a Curse (until they run out; it keeps working like Cursed Gold) and a creature which is a combination of unused, inexpensive Action cards. You get them at random, which prevents intentionally combining them in dangerous ways, but you have the potential for a Moat + Vagrant + Chapel + Smithy.

I had to add the "undiscounted" language because otherwise if you play 2 Quarries and a Pandora's Box, you would combine the entire pile. As with Black Market, there is the potential for discretion / house rules as to what gets included. It's worth noting that if you don't use non-Supply cards, in an IRL game you could make the Pandora deck with randomizers, as they never go into a player's deck (which could make them easier to put away).

Island of Doctor Moreau • $4 • Event If you have more than one Action card in Exile, combine two of them. Otherwise, Exile an Action card costing up to $4 from the Supply.

This one's only half-serious (and doesn't quite fit thematically), but I think the balance is about right. Requiring 3 buys and limiting it to up-to-$4 Actions is fairly balanced, although when there are ideal combos (see above) or other ways to Exile Actions (especially from the Supply), it could get a lot stronger (but probably not Collection - Stampede strong). It also mostly prevents player from re-combining, unless they have a way to Exile cards from their hand.

Coppersmith • $5 • Action - Night If it's your Night phase, trash up to three Coppers you have in play. Otherwise, combine up to 3 Coppers from the trash.

Another thing I like to do is remake cards that were dropped from 1Es. This Coppersmith is completely different from the original. It's an Action - Night card which lets you trash your Coppers from play at Night, or let's you combine them from the trash (effectively gaining you a Gold).


Since the inspiration for the mechanic was faust's upcoming wedding (congratulations again), I made a number of cards that were marriage themed (which also fits the mechanic):

Circle of Matchmakers • Ally After playing a Liaison, you may spend 3 Favors to combine it with a non-Liaison Action card you have in play.

By limiting it to combining the Liaison, it significantly restricts what can actually get combined, while still (in some cases), allowing for the potential for a very strong combo (e.g. Underling with a terminal draw or Emissary/Guildmaster with non-terminal/cantrip). The non-Liaison restriction prevents re-combining.

Wedding Bands • $5 • Treasure - Duration $2 At the start of your next turn, you may trash this to combine two Action cards from your hand.

Wedding Bands is a rare example of a card that lets you combine any 2 Actions (and even to recombine them). But there are still some important restrictions: they have to be in your hand at the start of the turn after you play WB, and you have to give up a $5 Treasure.

Wedding Chapel • $2 • Action - Reaction Trash up to 2 cards from your hand. When you trash more than one card, you may discard this from your hand to combine two of them.

Wedding Chapel is a simple trasher which also has a reaction allowing you to combine 2 trashed cards, but not if they are trashed by that copy. Originally it combined all of the trashed cards, but that would be quite ridiculous with Donate (and create a mandatory WC+Donate opening, which would leave each player with at Duchy that gives +$7).

FAQ/note: the cards have to be trashed as part of 1 effect. So even if you (for example) play Kings Court on a Forager (and thus trash 3 cards while resolving KC), each was trashed by a separate effect. Remake also does not work (since each time through you trash a single card).

Family Matchmaker • $4 • Action - Kin Combine an Action - Kin card (other than Family Matchmaker) and a non-Kin Action card from your hand.

Family Matchmaker uses the Kin mechanic from Week 7. By limiting it to combining a Kin and a non-Kin, there are fewer combining options--only 2 for the Kin, and fewer if one is not an Action (although I would probably suggest a version of the rule that required Kin cards to be Actions)--and you also can't recombine. Thus, a $4 card can permit combining 2 Actions on-play.

Elopement • $4 • Action - Night If it's your Night phase, Queue any number of differently-named Action cards you have in play other than Elopement. Otherwise, combine two Action cards in your Queue.

Another Action - Night card, this one using Week 19's Queue mechanic, and "set-up at Night, combine during the day" effect. This might be on the strong side, but the need to play it twice (and to have at least one card come off before you play Elopement again) does offer at least some balance.


One last angle, which is that the recently-used Equipment mechanic from Week 34 offers another interesting use for the combine mechanic. With the combine mechanic, the "Equipment" can be equipped to other cards:

Young Swordsman • $2 • Action Trash a card from your hand. If it was a Sword, combine it with a Young Swordsman you have in play. Equipment: Sword

Sword • $4 • Action - Equipment +3 Cards When you trash a card costing $3 or more, you may Equip this.

Young Swordsman is basically Student without the Recursion, Liaison, or pile-rotating. However, if you trash a Silver (or something costing as much or more), you can discard Sword, which is just a Smithy, but if you trash Sword, it can combine with YS to form a double-Lab trasher (but you can only get one copy).

Wandering Soul • $4 • Action Reveal the top 4 Cards in your deck. If you reveal a Locket, combine it with this. Put the Action cards back in any order and discard the rest. +2 Cards. Equipment: Locket

Locket • $0 • Treasure - Equipment If it's your Action phase, +1 Action; otherwise, +$1. When you reveal a Victory card (using the word "reveal"), you may Equip this.

Wandering Soul is a painfully terminal drawer, which makes sure you have Action cards when you get the +2 Cards. If you have plenty of +Actions that is not a problem, but will otherwise be terminal more often than most drawers. Locket lets you turn one copy of WS into a non-terminal version of itself.

[Joxeft]

Wedding Bands and Family Matchmakers Quotes are messed up.

[emtzalex]

Wedding Bands and Family Matchmakers Quotes are messed up.

Thanks. Fixed it.

[Joxeft]

Clerk is already an official card.

[infangthief]

One big question I had about this mechanic, in terms of design for it, is how strong is the capacity to combine cards (and, in particular, to combine Action cards). My first impression is that combining Action cards is incredibly strong. It is not hard to think of 2 card combinations that are extremely powerful.

It does seem powerful, yes. Even if the 2 Action cards you combine don't have any special synergy, just the act of combining them is like gaining a Lost City (without benefitting your opponents). Then if they do have synergy it's even better. I like your Tactician + Watchtower example!

[emtzalex]

Clerk is already an official card.

Good point. It wasn't when I created it (Prosperity 2E dropped after the contest started), but that would also have to change about the card.