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[emtzalex]

So, with the recent return of the NFL¹ Season, I have been thinking about the game and tinkering with an NFL-inspired expansion. My idea is for there to be one card for each team, sharing a name (using singular instead of plural), except the 3 teams whose names are already official cards (Raider, Cardinal, Giant).

I wanted a custom mechanic, and came up with the idea of Roster cards, which use a Roster mat and a start-of-game draft. There had previously been a conversation about a mechanic that drafted cards, although I cannot now find it. In the spirit of this contest, I'd like to see what you can come up with. Therefore, for Week 45, you need to:

Make a card/landscape that uses the Roster mechanic.

A player's Roster consists of 6 Action cards, with one card costing each price between $1 and $6. Each player has a different set of cards, which they draft at the beginning of the game (the draft will be detailed in a subsequent post). The cards go onto a mat (this is a very initial mock-up):

The cards stay on the mat, and are played using cards with the Roster type (which will also, generally, have the Command type). The cards will, generally, have some limitation on which of the Roster cards can be played, based on their price. For example:

Commander • $6 • Action - Command - Roster Play two differently named cards, each costing up to $1 per Action card you have in play (counting this), in either order, from your Roster, leaving them there.

Commander plays 2 different cards from your Roster mat. If you play it by itself, it will only play the $1 card, then fail to play a second card. If you have 6 cards in play, you can play any 2 cards from your roster mat.

In order to have playable $1 cards, (other than use Necropolis and Poor House), the mechanic has a set of Animal cards, which are just the non-self referential Ways (all but Butterfly, Chameleon, Frog, Horse, Mouse, Rat, and Turtle). Purely by way of illustration, one of them will look like this:



A few additional notes. I gave it the Roster type, like the Looter type, to indicate that the mat should be used. If you feel strongly the cards shouldn't have the type (or if you want to use a landscape, which wouldn't), that is fine. I know this seems like a lot, but the tl;dr is that players will each get a different set of Action cards costing $2-$6 and a Way costing $1 that they can play using a Command card (or something similar).

My main judging criteria is whether I would be excited to see the design in a Kingdom. Important factors for me are:

• balance -- is the card useful, but not overpowering (both in general and in a variety of Kingdoms)
• playability -- the card is fun to play and works in more than one type of deck
• simplicity -- this doesn't always mean fewer words; a card with lots of text that, once you understand it, can be easily and intuitively be played is better than one with four lines of text that is hard to understand
• topicality -- the card (or landscape) uses the mechanic in an interesting way

The deadline for submissions will be 10:00 p.m. Eastern/Forum time on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. Please let me know if you have any questions.




¹ National Football League, a American (gridiron) football league with 32 teams, all in the United States of America.

[emtzalex]

Rules for Drafting cards:

• Some cards have the Roster type.
• When you play a game with at least one card with the Roster type, each player uses a Roster mat, which they fill before the game begins with a draft.
• To begin, make a deck of different, unused Action cards costing between $2 and $6, and shuffle them together with the Animal cards.
• Deal the cards in the deck to each player, face down, starting with the player who will play last, in reverse turn order, until the deck is empty. The cards each player received are now a pack.
• Each player looks at the cards in their pack, selects one and places it face-down in front of them.
• Once all the players have selected a card, they reveal the selected card, and pass their pack to the next player in reverse-turn order.
• This process repeats until each player has drafted 10 cards.
• Players then assign one card of each price from $1 to $6 to the respective slot on their Roster mat.
• Players don't need to show their opponents which card they are assigning to which slot until all players are finished.
• If a player drafted at least one card at a price, that slot must be filled.
• The other cards the players drafted and the undrafted cards from the packs are returned to the box and not used in the game.

I am not completely married to these rules. I'd be open to suggestions about different size packs or other changes. The main point is that players draft 10 cards to fill their 6 Roster spaces.

[IlstrawberrySeed]

I suggest having the player to your left choose any unused card to fill your roster mat, such that someone doesn’t strategically choose cards of only 1-2 costs when you get to play another players, or when there is a benifit for spaces not filled (due to them being set aside), both ideas I have that are problematic.

[emtzalex]

I suggest having the player to your left choose any unused card to fill your roster mat, such that someone doesn’t strategically choose cards of only 1-2 costs when you get to play another players, or when there is a benifit for spaces not filled (due to them being set aside), both ideas I have that are problematic.

All of my cards only allow a player to play cards from their own mat for exactly this reason. There may be some narrow cases when playing no card will be better than playing a card, but I think in the vast majority of cases players will be able to draft a card at each price point that will work beneficially with the Roster card(s).

That said, feel free to design a card/landscape that implements a different version of the mechanic. The key elements are (1) a separate roster mat for each player and (2) a draft at the start of the game. I'm open to adjustments to number of cards or their price points, the draft process, and the inclusion of the Animal cards.

[fika monster]

Swap but for rosters: Quasi thinning or deck improvement? you decide!

[IlstrawberrySeed]

Overtime
———
Choose 1: set aside one of your roster cards (on this) and play it at the start of your next turn, returning it to your roster mat, or +(1) per empty space on your roster mat at the start of your next turn.
-
This is gained to your hand (instead of your discard pile.
———
Action - Roster
———
(5)

Rule changes: Any empty space on your roster mat after drafting is filled with a copper or unused ruin.

[emtzalex]

24 Hour Warning

[emtzalex]

Contest Closed

[emtzalex]

Fan Card Mechanic Contest #45: Any Given Sunday

Manager • $4 • Action - Roster You may swap a card in your hand with a card costing the same $ or less as it in your roster, putting it into your hand.	Manager by fika monster An interesting approach, Manager allows you to swap cards in your hand for those on the Roster mat. The idea of taking those cards off the mat hadn't occurred to me, but it is an interesting approach. This effect (imo) is more akin to Black Market than to Swap, as it effectively gives each player to some cards that their opponent does not have access to. My main concern with this is that it might tend to being a bit strong. It would be too automatic (absent really strong trashing) to stick 2 of your Estates on to the Roster to pull off the $1 and $2 cards, and (depending on what you drafted) buying and setting aside 1-3 Duchies for the $3-$5 cards (similarly, if you hit $8 early on there's incentive to buy a Province and swap it for the $6). This also has the potential not to get along with other Roster cards, either because it will take away what you'd use them on (forcing you to choose between one or the other) or, potentially, because it messes with the assumption that there's exactly one card at each price point. (It also puts you in a position where you're instructed to play dead cards, but that doesn't matter that much as it would just do nothing). That being said, it is certainly a creative idea, and an interesting way to use the mechanic and make the draft process important.
Overtime ——— Choose 1: set aside one of your roster cards (on this) and play it at the start of your next turn, returning it to your roster mat, or +(1) per empty space on your roster mat at the start of your next turn. - This is gained to your hand (instead of your discard pile. ——— Action - Roster ——— (5) Rule changes: Any empty space on your roster mat after drafting is filled with a copper or unused ruin.	Overtime by IlstrawberrySeed Overtime either pulls one of the cards from your Roster mat and plays it at the start of your next turn, or it gives you $1 per empty slot on your Roster (i.e. one per copy of Overtime you've already played to pull a card away), also at the start of your next turn. Because it's terminal, you will only be able to play 1 at first. However, because the Actions you play resolve at the start of your turn, they can add to your Actions and allow you play multiple copies of Overtime on subsequent turns. First, this needs to be a Duration card. The only things it does happen at the start of your next turn, so it should have the Duration type (which it would have even if it only sometimes did something on subsequent turns). The fact that this plays any card, regardless of its cost (as opposed to Commander which requires you to meet certain conditions to play the higher level cards) is interesting. If it just played the card from the mat this would be too strong, as there is at least one $6 card there (and even if there weren't, a $5 that plays another $5 or one of 4 other cards, is too strong). However, this is weakened in two ways--first, by delaying the playing of the card, which is inherently weaker (and why Caravan costs less than Lab), and second, by taking the card off the Roster mat, which means it can only be played once per start-of-turn. The card is then slightly buffed by being able to generate $, especially after you have played several of the cards. To be honest, I think the nerfs hurt it too much, especially at $5. It isn't easy to get $5 cards, especially multiple copies of them. Absent a wider engine, to really get this going you need to be able to play multiple copies of this, which will usually require you to play one, trigger it, then be able to play multiple copies of it on the next turn. This will often be very hard to do, unless you can support it with a lot of other cards. I think it either needs to cost $4 or be non-terminal on the turn it is played (maybe even a cantrip). Also, the fact that it plays cards regardless of their cost probably means that the cheaper cards you draft won't matter. You also didn't need to change the Rule. You could have just had it give +$1 per card off the Roster mat (rater than count empty spaces).

Winner:

Manager by fika monster

[IlstrawberrySeed]

I was totally ruching when I went to put that down. Don’t re-judge, but I meant for it to be a night (and duration) card. Additionally, coppers on the roster may prevent you from the first card being +(5) from drafting the same price point. More likely you will get +4, with 2 price points, but it severely increases the benefit of multiple overtimes. The coppers are a nerf. I also thought about an “if this costs more than (3), put this on the tavern mat. (Call at start of turn), or something like that.

[fika monster]

thanks!

I dont have the time or energy right now to be the judge of a contest, so if strawberry seed wanna do it they are welcome.

personally, i would have preffered if the judgement waited untill there was at least 3 submissions

[emtzalex]

I was totally ruching when I went to put that down. Don’t re-judge, but I meant for it to be a night (and duration) card.

I probably should have picked this up since you had the gain-to-hand ability, but I missed it. Making it non-terminal would be a definite improvement, as a player could play multiple copies of it without needing a source of +Actions.

Additionally, coppers on the roster may prevent you from the first card being +(5) from drafting the same price point. More likely you will get +4, with 2 price points, but it severely increases the benefit of multiple overtimes. The coppers are a nerf.

I understood this.

I also thought about an “if this costs more than (3), put this on the tavern mat. (Call at start of turn), or something like that.

I'm not sure exactly how that would work. The player could still call it at the start of their next turn so it would only improve the card (as they could either play it then or wait). Maybe it could have been to make them discard a card per $3 the Roster card costs (either before or after playing it)?

personally, i would have preffered if the judgement waited untill there was at least 3 submissions

I thought about waiting, but no one else seemed to be interested in the mechanic (e.g. commenting on it, asking about it, etc.), so I just went ahead and did the judging.

[IlstrawberrySeed]

This is only my second week, is there a list of already done mechanics, or any special guides for what to choose as the topic?

[emtzalex]

This is only my second week, is there a list of already done mechanics, or any special guides for what to choose as the topic?

There is an index of previous week's contests here. They are listed by contest title, rather than by the actual name of the mechanic, but if you're unsure feel free to ask.

There is a thread containing an an  "Atlas" of fan card mechanics, which has a lot of examples of fan created mechanics.

[emtzalex]

This is only my second week, is there a list of already done mechanics, or any special guides for what to choose as the topic?

If it helps, here are a couple of posts from the Atlas outlining recently created mechanics. I went through and crossed out the ones that are the same as or substantially similar to mechanics we have used (I think I got them all, but may have missed a few).

I just wanted to note that I had done a mechanic contest in the weekly design contest about a year ago, and there were some pretty cool submissions (some of them are already in the atlas). Here's the link

Here's a short list of the mechanics submitted
2 sided events by grep
Morning Cards by Spineflu
2 sided events by Majiponi
Single Cards by NoMoreFun
Armor by 4est
Reload by mandioca15
Workers by D782802859
Rules by grrgrrgrr (similar to edicts)
Jewelry by scolapasta
Strength by X-tra
Equipment by [TP] Inferno
Card Costs by Aquila
Mount Cards by Gazbag
Threat Cards by Fragasnap
Roundabout Cards by Snowyowl
Enchantments by Something_Smart
Leaders by Kudasai

Note: [TP] Inferno's Equipment cards are different from gambit05's Equipment cards we used in Week 34.

Luxury cards and the Wealth type (from DunnoItAll's Dominion: Middle Ages) -- Luxury cards are an additional Supply pile that gets added when a Kingdom pile has the Wealth type; they stay in play and give a vanilla bonus at the start of each turn.

Gems and Gemstones (by DunnoItAll) -- Gemstones are player-specific landscapes that function as a kind of modified Coffers mat, the tokens on which can be returned for a different amount of $ depending on some external condition. Gems are the tokens.

Setting aside a Kingdom pile as a non-Supply card (from Something_Smart's Roots expansion) -- the cards are gained by an Action or Event, which also modifies how it gets played (see Judge, Pioneer, Construct, Witchcraft).

Double-face cards (by Carline) -- these cards are set aside at the beginning of the game, and are played using either a card (Guildmaster) or Way (Way of the Beast)

Harms (from Something_Smart's Rivalries) -- piles of Junk cards that do harm to a player during Clean-up (in games using them, players must reveal their hand during Clean-up)

Currency (from Jupaoqq's Dominion: Dynasty) -- Coins that can only be used to buy a specific type of card (i.e. ActionCurrency, TreasureCurrency, and VictoryCurrency)

Monsters (by Marpharos) -- a harmful landscape in the middle of a split pile that are "defeated" using Raiders, a resources handed out by the top card in the pile (which has the new "Adventurer" type); when the Monster is killed, a Reward is given to the players based upon their participation in defeating the monster

Heritage cards (in DunnoItAll's Dominion: Subterfuge) -- DunnoItAll doesn't really explain how these work; given that each Heritage card accompaies a Kingdom card with the Heritage listed like an Heirloom, I presume it works like an Heirloom, but replaces an Estate instead of a Copper (though I would appreciate DunnoItAll correcting me if I am wrong).

Money Bags (by herw)--cards with an a bonus on-play effect that requires putting basic Treasure cards from your hand under them as a form of payment

Adventurer Cards (from Udzu's Dominion: Swords & Sorcery) -- "a sort of cross between Heirlooms and Reserve cards," each of these is included when a certain card is in the Kingdom; they start on a player's Adventurer's mat, and stay there until thery are called by meeting some condition. They are then discarded, and become part of a player's deck. They are modified by Equipment landscapes.

Missions (from Udzu's Dominion: Swords & Sorcery) -- Objectives that, when completed, give the player a bonus

Janus cards (by emtzalex) -- two-sided cards (they have one face, but one is right-side up and the other is upside down), which, when played, give one effect to the player playing it, and the other effect to each other player.

Equipment cards (by gambit05) -- Like Heirlooms, these are added to the game based on the presence of certain Kingdom cards; they start out of the game on "stand by" mode, and enter the game when "Equipped" by a player meeting certain criteria. A subset of these have a "Cabinet" type, which go onto your Cabinet mat and enhace the play of other cards while there (see Kingsman). This is an update of an earlier post, which also had Morale cards.

Henchmen + Underlings + Jobs (by spineflu) -- Henchmen are tokens that go on a Henchmen mat, and which are given by cards with the "Underling" type. In games with an Underling card, a Job (or maybe more than one) is added to the game. During a player's Action phase, they may pay 1 Action and 1 Henchman token to play the Job.

Carts (by gambit05) -- Cart is a non-Suppy Action card that gives +2 Actions, +$2, +1 Card per empty pile.

Territories (by scott_pilgrim) -- landscapes that give Project-like bonuses, but which can only be held by one player at a time; in order to take it away, another player must pay more than the current holder paid the previous time

Allies (by MrHiTech) -- "Allies are a sideways card type. They go in your sideways deck, and start in the supply. When you buy an Ally, it goes in front of you, like an Artifact, and you benefit from it while it’s in front of you. Another player can buy an Ally from in front of you, and then they put it in front of them. There is only one copy of each Ally."

Buy type (from X-tra's Odyssey) -- Cards with the Buy type can't be "obtained in any way outside of your Buy phase."