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[infangthief]

The contest this week is to design a new Artifact and whatever is needed to bring it into the game.

(I had a quick check and couldn't see an Artifact contest before - if it has already been done let me know.)

Here's the inspiration - Donald X himself thinks he should have come up with more / better ones:

For Renaissance, the Artifacts did not work out so great. Maybe the best move there is to save them for the next set and see if I improve them. ... I like Flag Bearer and Swashbuckler; so, two cards, not really enough, save Artifacts for when I have more.

Clarifications:

• An Artifact is something that only one player can have at a time, unlike States which generally have a copy for each player. Eg "Lost in the Woods" functions as an Artifact even though it is a State.
• You will probably need to design some card(s) or landscape(s) in addition to the Artifact, in order to bring the Artifact into the game. And I am ok with an entry that introduces 2 Artifacts (like Border Guard does). However I would prefer entries to consist of no more than 3 things total (including the Artifact(s)).
• Added 5th June I'll be attempting to judge not just the Artifact but the whole package of the Artifact + whatever cards/landmarks bring it into the game.
  

Until next week, good luck!

[Builder_Roberts]

Alright- this is something I hand in my back pocket.
Comparing to Cartographer, this draws another card, but doesn't discard any. it is strictly better than a laboratory, though.


Getting the telescope means you can actually use it on your turn, which is nice.
edit: changed Astronomer from "look at" to "reveal" so there's accountability
edit 2: on suggestion from LastFootnote, I'm toning the Telescope to 3 from 5.

[Joxeft]

Road - Treasure - cost: 4 $2 When you play this you may take the Cursed Stone to choose one: +$1; or +2 Buys. Cursed Stone - Artifact You cant buy any cards that have have $ in their text. - At any time you may pay $1 to return this. Feedback is appreciated.

[Augie279]

A double-Broker that's a bit restrictive, but you can get rid of two things with it. Get rid of something good and you're rewarded by being able to trade up Actions and Coins for Coffers and Villagers.

[J410]

Door - Action - Reaction - Cost: 4$ +2 Actions +2$ Discard a card. When you discard this during your turn, other than during Clean-up, you may reveal it to take the Doobell.

Doorbell - Artifact After you finish playing a Door, you may pay 2$ for +2 Cards.

This is a door, you can knock on it and I'll let you in with two coins and two actions. Maybe you want to install a doorbell first. Ring and I'll let you in with two extra cards, gotta leave your coins behind though. You can install a doorbell by discarding ons of your doors, but only on your own turn, and only until someone else tears it off. Well you can just discard another Door to your Door and use the Doorbell again immediately. Maybe you can even discard a Door to another card, like Sentry.
Festival is a strong card, but is hampered by the lack of card draw. This card capitalizes on that by making you discard another card. Normally Door is like playing both a Villa and an Oasis from your hand, with Doorbell it becomes a weakened Capital City.

[J410]

(I had a quick check and couldn't see an Artifact contest before - if it has already been done let me know.)

It appears that WDC 47 already did an artifact contest, though it specifically asked for an event+artifact.

[fika monster]

Heres an Ally that uses Artifacts
v2


And an artifact (well its really just transmogrify as an artifact)

[faust]

Heres an Ally that uses Artifacts

I don't think this will work well with Importer. You never want to take an Artifact because your opponent will just take it from you and then get to keep it.

[J410]

What if door is the only card that discards cards in the kingdom? If it is I don't really want to discard doors most of the time to get the doorbell so the doorbell is useless unless you have a bunch of doors.

Playing two doors means you'll have to discard two of your other three cards, so I think you'd usually just discard a door there. If you only have one door in hand, you have no choice anyways. Buying another door to discard is only 1 buy and 4$ to be able to take the doorbell many times in future turns, which I consider much cheaper than anything that lets you pay to take it once. In the end, there are two ways (I think) to play doors (assuming no other discarder): Either take one or two (more in slogs) and be ready to discard a copper or victory card, or take as many as possible to have it function as sifting village (with doorbell).

[infangthief]

(I had a quick check and couldn't see an Artifact contest before - if it has already been done let me know.)

It appears that WDC 47 already did an artifact contest, though it specifically asked for an event+artifact.

Well-spotted.
Yes, this one is a little different as you don't need to use an Event. Also, looks like that contest allowed the use of an existing Artifact, whereas here I'm requiring a new Artifact.
I should also clarify that I'll be attempting to judge not just the Artifact but the whole package of the Artifact + whatever cards/landmarks bring it into the game.

[4est]

How about an Artifact that you don't actually want? Well, maybe you do want this one. Scribe is a cheap cantrip that give the option of discarding 2 cards to take the Quill and get a sort of sifting Village effect, plus as long as you have the Quill, the rest of your Scribes are Lost Cities! However, the Quill also causes you to draw fewer cards for your starting hands (writer's block of course).

[faust]

 

Witch in Training - $3
Action

+2 Cards
-
When you gain this, take the Broom.

Broom
Artifact

When you play a Witch in Training, each other player gains a Curse, then pass this to the player to your right.

[Joxeft]

My submission has been updated.

[fika monster]

Heres an Ally that uses Artifacts
v2


And an artifact (well its really just transmogrify as an artifact)

Changed Scientist association so it now requires just 2 Favors for the first artifact, but you can choose to invest extra to get another artifact. This should fix the "importer" game issues, but still reward players for getting a lot of favors.

[AJL828]

Reconstruct
Action ($5)

Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card to your hand costing up to $2 more than it other than a Reconstruct. If you trashed an Action card, take the Building Permit.

Building Permit
Artifact

Once during your turn, when you trash a card, you may turn this face down. If you do, put the trashed card into your hand. (Turn this face up again at the end of your turn).

A Remodel variant that gains to your hand, but it can't gain itself so you can't autopile them with Fortress and the +Action Token/Champion. Since this bonus makes it weaker on the "Gold to Province" end of remodeling, it also has an artifact that gives the Fortress effect to one card you trash during your turn, meaning that milling a Province can become gaining one instead, provided you keep hold of the Building Permit that is.

[xyz123]

Mystery Box
Artifact

At the start of your turn receive the next Boon.

Night Porter
Night
$3

Choose two: Gain a Horse; +1 Villager; +1 Coffer (The choices must be different).

You may discard a non-Victory card costing $2 or more to take the Mystery Box.

[Joxeft]

You might want to size this up a bit, instead of width do height.

Like this:

[Joxeft]

Mystery Box
Artifact

At the start of your turn receive the next Boon.

Night Porter
Night
$2

Choose two: Gain a Horse; +1 Villager; +1 Coffer (The choices must be different).

You may discard a non-Victory card costing $2 or more to take the Mystery Box.

This is like as good as village for $2.

[emtzalex]

My Submission:

Junk • $4 • Action - Duration +1 Card +1 Action At the start of your next turn, take the Smuggler's Map.

Smuggler's Map • Artifact When you play a Junk, +1 Card.

My submission is Junk, with the Artifact Smuggler's Map. On the turn it's played, Junk starts as a cantrip, but if you have the Smuggler's Map, it turns into a Lab. Conveniently, it will get you that map on the following turn. So, as long as you played a Junk last turn (or your opponent didn't), you should be able to maintain these as Labs throughout much of the game. Of course, you still have the next-turn effect, meaning you will only get them on half your turns at best. And you need to be careful not to play them all on a single turn. If you do, you won't have any to play the following turn to take advantage of the Map, and won't get it back when they all go into your deck.

[xyz123]

Mystery Box
Artifact

At the start of your turn receive the next Boon.

Night Porter
Night
$2

Choose two: Gain a Horse; +1 Villager; +1 Coffer (The choices must be different).

You may discard a non-Victory card costing $2 or more to take the Mystery Box.

This is like as good as village for $2.

Thanks, I was comparing it to Pawn and didn't consider that.

[LastFootnote]

I will say from playtesting experience that the Telescope effect is super nuts. I'm guessing it's too strong for an Artifact like this. Luckily it's very easy to tone down by tweaking the number of cards, if you should decide to do so.

[Builder_Roberts]

I will say from playtesting experience that the Telescope effect is super nuts. I'm guessing it's too strong for an Artifact like this. Luckily it's very easy to tone down by tweaking the number of cards, if you should decide to do so.

Alright, Makes sense. I'm considering either 3 or 4, I'll go with 3 to be safe. Updating...

[Galaxi]

[Joxeft]

I don't like that the player to your left always gets the tool box if they don't have it. Having +1 Action at the start of each of your turns is in most scenarios if its not taken from you in 2 turns or less is much better then +2 Action every 3 to 8 turns or so making this a piece of junk if its not being used by 2 players or more which messes up the whole card.

[Galaxi]

making this a piece of junk

overpowered villages.

I love this 

There are definitely gonna be boards where this is really strong or weak, but on a lot of boards it's not so simple. As for it being too strong, you have to consider how it plays for instance when there's another village on the board. Or maybe 2 actions per turn is suboptimal, but worth it for not having to put in the effort of getting these villages. If you only need 1 or 2 villages, it's also a matter of "is it worth the drawback?"

I mostly compared it to Port for how strong I should make it, but as for the cost I'm not too attached to 2. It might be better at 3 or 4. My feeling was 3, or maybe 2, but then I've also noticed people on these boards prefer slightly strong over slightly weak, so it became 2 for now.

[Galaxi]

This cannot be fixed via changing the costs. The simply problem is that the gift for the other players is not much of a gift in the presence of DoubleSplitters that do nearly the same thing as the Artefact.

If the Kingdom card did something else, a Baracks Artefact would be much stronger.

Saying that the power level of the card can't be fixed by changing the cost seems crazy to me. I don't see how this wouldn't almost always be worse than Port at 4 for instance. What am I missing?

[Gubump]

This cannot be fixed via changing the costs. The simply problem is that the gift for the other players is not much of a gift in the presence of DoubleSplitters that do nearly the same thing as the Artefact.

If the Kingdom card did something else, a Baracks Artefact would be much stronger.

Saying that the power level of the card can't be fixed by changing the cost seems crazy to me. I don't see how this wouldn't almost always be worse than Port at 4 for instance. What am I missing?

I think what he means is that the concept of the card can't be fixed by changing the cost. The problem with Charitable Village isn't necessarily the power level, it's that the Artifact and the effect of the card are redundant. The effect of the card makes the Artifact's Barracks effect nigh irrelevant.

[Galaxi]

This cannot be fixed via changing the costs. The simply problem is that the gift for the other players is not much of a gift in the presence of DoubleSplitters that do nearly the same thing as the Artefact.

If the Kingdom card did something else, a Baracks Artefact would be much stronger.

Saying that the power level of the card can't be fixed by changing the cost seems crazy to me. I don't see how this wouldn't almost always be worse than Port at 4 for instance. What am I missing?

I think what he means is that the concept of the card can't be fixed by changing the cost. The problem with Charitable Village isn't necessarily the power level, it's that the Artifact and the effect of the card are redundant. The effect of the card makes the Artifact's Barracks effect nigh irrelevant.

In certain kingdoms that might be true, but I feel like most of the time it isn't. Having an extra action at the start of your turn is wildly different than having it somewhere in your deck. If a village is your only source of +2 action, you often NEED to get it in your starting hand to even get the engine going that turn. +1 action at the start of turn makes the requirements for your starting hand way looser. And this is on top of already requiring the kingdom to be properly engine-heavy, otherwise the 2 actions per turn with another strategy, or for instance with another +2 action card, might very well be better. I'm by no means a top player, and I also have limited experience with full random, but having a kingdom where everything aligns for this card's artifact to be irrelevant seems like it can't happen often enough to make it uninteresting.

Edit: I can also add for reference that I have access to base+renaissance+menagerie when I playtest, in case that matters

[Commodore Chuckles]

Builder
Action - $4
Gain a card costing up to $4. Choose one: +$1, or take the Hammer.

Hammer
Artifact
The first time you shuffle on your turn, first gain a card costing up to $4.

I wanted to make an Artifact that gives interesting tactical choices. If you're not about to shuffle, there's more of a risk that another player will snatch the Hammer away from you before you can use it. And getting stuck with it when all the good cheap cards are gone isn't good either. But maybe you want it at the very end to gain some Estates.

[infangthief]

Here is your friendly 24 hour announcement!

[spineflu]

Builder
Action - $4
Gain a card costing up to $4. Choose one: +$1, or take the Hammer.

Hammer
Artifact
When you shuffle, first gain a card costing up to $4.

I wanted to make an Artifact that gives interesting tactical choices. If you're not about to shuffle, there's more of a risk that another player will snatch the Hammer away from you before you can use it. And getting stuck with it when all the good cheap cards are gone isn't good either. But maybe you want it at the very end to gain some Estates.

this + warehouse/forums (or other cycling) ends games real fast

unsure whether thats a feature or a bug

[Joxeft]

I have withdrawn my submission for a new one.

[faust]

Builder
Action - $4
Gain a card costing up to $4. Choose one: +$1, or take the Hammer.

Hammer
Artifact
When you shuffle, first gain a card costing up to $4.

I wanted to make an Artifact that gives interesting tactical choices. If you're not about to shuffle, there's more of a risk that another player will snatch the Hammer away from you before you can use it. And getting stuck with it when all the good cheap cards are gone isn't good either. But maybe you want it at the very end to gain some Estates.

this + warehouse/forums (or other cycling) ends games real fast

unsure whether thats a feature or a bug

Also, this + Gamble is pretty ridiculous.

[spineflu]

Greengrocer • $2P • Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy
+$1
When you buy this, you may overpay. If you do, take the Secret Ingredient

Secret Ingredient • Artifact
At the start of your turn, +P

Hey look a minigame called "buy potion cost cards without a potion".

FAQ: you can overpay by any amount in order to take the Secret Ingredient; do note that overpaying by $0 or by debt doesn't count/is not allowed, per the rules of overpay outlined in the Guilds rulebook.

[Commodore Chuckles]

Builder
Action - $4
Gain a card costing up to $4. Choose one: +$1, or take the Hammer.

Hammer
Artifact
When you shuffle, first gain a card costing up to $4.

I wanted to make an Artifact that gives interesting tactical choices. If you're not about to shuffle, there's more of a risk that another player will snatch the Hammer away from you before you can use it. And getting stuck with it when all the good cheap cards are gone isn't good either. But maybe you want it at the very end to gain some Estates.

this + warehouse/forums (or other cycling) ends games real fast

unsure whether thats a feature or a bug

Good point. OP updated.

[infangthief]

The contest is closed.
The judging will be in a day or two.

Here's the list of entries I'm judging - let me know if I missed any:

Telescope + Astronomer	by Builder_Roberts
Cursed Stone + Road	by Joxeft
Seal of Loyalty + Pawn Shop	by Augie279
Doorbell + Door	by J410
Magic Brew + Scientist Association	by fika monster
Quill + Scribe	by 4est
Broom + With in Training	by faust
Building Permit + Reconstruct	by AJL828
Mystery Box + Night Porter	by xyz123
Smuggler's Map + Junk	by emtzalex
Toolbox + Charitable Village	by Galaxi
Hammer + Builder	by Commodore Chuckles
Secret Ingredient + Greengrocer	by spineflu

[infangthief]

Judging is ... not here yet. Sorry, very busy few days.

[infangthief]

Judging at last, thanks for your patience!

Great entries and a lot to think about and admire. I haven't been able to playtest any, so apologies if my estimations are off - I've done my best.

Telescope + Astronomer by Builder_Roberts		A Laboratory where you get to pick 2 cards from 4 sounds strong already, then the possibility of a free Warehouse effect at the end of your turn. But then $6 is a lot, so maybe ok. An interesting twist might be if the Telescope made you topdeck instead of discard, then you could use it to help set up for regaining it with an Astronomer next turn (though that might increase the game-slowing decisions). Either way, looks like a good Navigator replacement.
Cursed Stone + Road by Joxeft		Silver with a bonus if you're happy to restrict your buying choices. DXV has said he doesn't like $4 Silver+ cards, because people just buy them when they would have bought Silver anyway. I'm not sure I agree with him, so I'm not going to count that against this card. Cursed Stone is an interesting penalty that will always be relevant - at the very least it prevents you buying more Roads, Silvers or Golds, and there are nearly always Action cards with $ in them.
Seal of Loyalty + Pawn Shop by Augie279		This does a lot! Double Broker, with the option to get the Artifact. Seal of Loyalty is very useful, especially with future Pawn Shops (if you still have it when you play them). Very good thematically too.
Doorbell + Door by J410		This seems very weak to me, because discarding a card hurts a lot. At $3 this would be fine. Having Doorbell is an advantage, but using it just gives me a Village with a little bit of sifting, which is hard to get excited about.
Magic Brew + Scientist Association by fika monster		I like the Magic Brew effect; permanent Transmogrify seems very strong (though I think the wording needs improving - see other exchange cards). And I like the Ally's pick your own Artifact idea, great flexibility. "Usable" would need defining in an FAQ. I think it still has the Importer problem that faust pointed out.
Quill + Scribe by 4est		Scribe/Quill seems really interesting. At first I thought it was so overpowered, like if you start your turn with Quill then your first Scribe is a Village and all subsequent Scribes are Lost Cities. But then I realised that, if it is that powerful, then you're very unlikely to start your turn with the Quill (but you still have the penalty of 1 fewer card end of last turn). So, a high risk strategy which kind of forces your opponent to mirror you. How does Quill work if you've played Outpost? Finalist
Broom + Witch in Training by faust		Another step down the Witch ladder, and I like the theme of the Witch school having only one broom to go round everyone. The only way to give out more curses than your opponents is to get extra copies, which is a different dynamic than standard Witch. And very interesting I think. In multiplayer it would be annoying if the player on your left decides not to get any Witches in Training, but that does increase the interdependence of different players' strategies. Finalist
Building Permit + Reconstruct by AJL828		Remodel variant that gains to your hand. The Building Permit looks like a powerful Artifact that will be fought over, which is good, but getting it is probably hard enough that there is some chance you will still have it at the start of your next turn. There is also the possibility of using Building Permit on the same turn that you get it, if you try hard.
Mystery Box + Night Porter by xyz123	Mystery Box Artifact At the start of your turn receive the next Boon. Night Porter Night $3 Choose two: Gain a Horse; +1 Villager; +1 Coffer (The choices must be different). You may discard a non-Victory card costing $2 or more to take the Mystery Box.	Another strong Artifact that you can get by handicapping yourself. Seems like a great use of Boons and I like the Night Porter options, though I think it should probably cost $4. The choice of whether to take the Mystery Box is probably well balanced in some kingdoms (eg is it worth holding back a Silver to take it?); in others I think you'll hardly ever get to keep the Mystery Box till the start of your next turn, but at least it will be always influencing play. Finalist
Smuggler's Map + Junk by emtzalex		Laboratories that stay out an extra turn, so long as you play at least one per turn. And if everyone does that then everyone has the Smuggler's Map whenever they need it, all very harmonious. Seems solid, similar to Caravan but with a bit more to think about.
Toolbox + Charitable Village by Galaxi		A cheap double-Village, with the drawback of giving someone else an extra Action at the start of their turn, which is handy for them for engine reliability. I'd be inclined to make it so all other players start with an extra Action, and increase the cost to $3, but might be fine as is.
Hammer + Builder by Commodore Chuckles	Builder Action - $4 Gain a card costing up to $4. Choose one: +$1, or take the Hammer. Hammer Artifact The first time you shuffle on your turn, first gain a card costing up to $4.	The Hammer ability seems really good, and the Builder choice makes you estimate when you next expect to shuffle. I like "when-shuffle" triggers. I was going to say that a workshop with +$1 already seems too strong for $4, but there is Inventor, so I must be wrong there! Finalist
Secret Ingredient + Greengrocer by spineflu		A Market with a Potion cost. It's all about getting the Secret Ingredient, for which you will need an ordinary Potion and $3. Then once you've got it you can get Greengrocers really fast, and much easier to get any other Potion-costing cards, until someone takes the Secret Ingredient off you. Fun but very swingy.

So my finalists are:
Quill + Scribe by 4est
Broom + Witch in Training by faust
Mystery Box + Night Porter by xyz123
Hammer + Builder by Commodore Chuckles

... and I'm going for:
Runner-up: Mystery Box + Night Porter by xyz123
Winner: Broom + Witch in Training by faust

[faust]

Thanks for the win!

I have thought up a new contest, it should be posted very soon.