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Donald X.

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The Secret History of Dominion: Plunder
« on: December 24, 2022, 02:17:43 am »
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The pandemic got me working on Allies, Allies got me working on second editions, and the second editions got me working on Plunder. Making more Seaside and Prosperity stuff was fun, and I had mechanics lying around that went with that. I could seriously make some treasure-durations. I could try out "rewards," which had been sitting around for a long time (looked at briefly for Empires). I had an idea for duration cards left over from Seaside 2E; I'd saved it because clearly it was good for a bunch of cards. And I had a landscape type left over from Allies.

I had the name before I had much else. The intersection of treasures and durations! It was also the name of a card, but man we'd been down that road before. A lot of cards then ended up based on flavor, at least initially; names that would be cool in the set.

Let's consider the mechanics one by one.

*** Mechanics ***

Treasures: Some cards are born treasures; others have treasure-ness thrust upon them. Stuff that might have been +1 Action +$ in some other set ("disappearing money") ended up as treasures here, unless that didn't work out. Treasures were going to fill lots of deck roles here, but still wanted to also feel like treasures, at least for the most part.

Durations: I tried to cover the range of previous variations in the Duration concept, while also finding new stuff, though the next-time durations did plenty to give me new stuff.

Treasure - Durations: The plan was always to errata things like Bonfire that make treasure-durations bad to do. And then hooray, I could have treasure-durations. This doesn't so much narrow the cards down; they could do all sorts of things. There had been a split pile of treasure-durations in Allies that died, but part of its problem was needing to meet the demands of a split pile - we had to want the top card enough and they had to go in ascending order and make sense as a whole. It was no trouble having lots when there were no restrictions beyond "be a treasure-duration."

Loot: In the file they were "rewards." When I tried them they were "valuables." Loot was the perfect name, if you didn't care that there were unrelated Looters in Dark Ages, and well eventually I didn't care. The premise was random treasures that cards could give you, that would be worth about the right amount. It's like the set has a bunch of cards that say "gain a Gold," only they're more exciting. There was a lot more variety at first but that didn't work out, you were too likely to get something crazy this game or awful this game. In the end they almost all make $3 and a lot make +1 Buy. Cade was always drawing his deck, and hated the ones that you only got to play every other turn (due to being a duration), so some of those changed into every-turn things.

Next time durations: This idea started out as one of many Sailor cards trying out for Seaside 2E (it was in the Avoid family: "+$2, next time you shuffle, choose up to 4 cards to not shuffle in, trash this, and gain a Duration card"). It seemed like I could do a lot with it - cards that waited around for something to happen and then did something. It's like Reserve cards, but not the start-of-turn ones. I had a lot of things to try and didn't even cover all the expected ground. For example nothing is like "next time x happens, do y; until then, z every turn." That's just so many words when you put in the effects (though Taskmaster is in this vicinity, flipped).

Traits: So these started as Goods in Allies. They were all rules of the form, "when you gain a treasure, thing." I liked them, Matt not so much. Allies had too much stuff, so I saved them for the next set (dropping "when you gain a Treasure, +1 Favor"). Now I called them Cargo. Sir Martin complained that they made him fill his deck with treasures that didn't do anything. Then there was always the issue of Copper being a treasure. Sometimes you could make the rule happen a bunch and it mattered. I considered triggering on just Gold, or modifying Gold a variety of ways, but well I had Loot. But well, actions are fun, why not modify actions? At first the idea was to only modify actions; then I expanded it to, actions or treasures. Some ideas wouldn't work on treasures but that was fine, I could use other ideas. I never quite wanted them to just work on kingdom card piles, given what I'd be ruling out and how little I'd be getting out of that.

Events: Hey, why not more Events? It took me a while to get to them but then I got some great ones. I tried to make some that related to "next time" and that was fruitful.

Let's look at the kingdom cards! Man this set has 40 of them.

*** Kingdom cards ***

Abundance: The initial card cost $5, and was "The next time you gain a Victory card, +2 Buys and gain a Loot to your hand." And then it just played the Loot due to certain interactions. For a while I liked this. It was good, but you didn't want it immediately; I like that. It would be a gamble sometimes; will this Loot be +$3 or not. It dropped to +1 Buy because +2 Buys was sure generous. But finally one day there was a round of "fix up the treasures" and this one was targeted. I tried triggering on Actions instead, and just giving you the +$3 instead of gaining a Loot. And was immediately pleased with it.

Buried Treasure: Initially this cost $3 and had no +Buy. It seemed fine for a while; then we had online testing and oops it was nuts.

Cabin Boy: There were several other cards trying out to be Cabin Boys, that turned into other things or died. This one started out costing $3 and giving you a choice next turn of +1 Buy, +$1, or upgrading. I turned the first two options into a +$2 option to make it good enough; then it was too good and so costs $4.

Cage: Initially it wasn't a Treasure, didn't trash itself, and put the cards into your hand on the same turn that you gained a Victory card (where typically you'd then uselessly discard them). The idea was that it just locked up four cards for a while for you. First I made it a Treasure, then put the cards into your hand at end of turn, to make the card better; then to tone it back down, and also make it less like Grotto, it trashed itself.

Crew: The initial idea was: "+2 Cards, set aside a card from your hand, next turn put it and this into your hand." That's just way stronger than it looks. And good times, we were all fans. Eventually testing established that it was too nuts. I tried letting you just take one of the cards next turn, but oops that sucks. Then I hit on putting it onto your deck next turn, which attacked the most problematic case, where you just buy Treasures and a Crew. The final version of Crew doesn't do that trick as well; every other turn you don't draw it.

Crucible: I tried a few variations on "some Treasure version of Salvager." One of them was a mess of conditions - +$2 if you had a copy of the trashed card in play, +$2 if its pile was empty, +$2 if it cost $4 or more. A couple versions gave +$ equal to a number in the card's text; those kinds of things are always fun to playtest, and hey if they somehow work out, yeeha. Then I finally tried the straight "Salvager with no Buy but hey it's a Treasure" and there it is. It's gotta be one of the less-interesting cards to read in the set, but man, I like it, no regrets.

Cutthroat: There were unrelated discard attacks that died prior to me trying this. This one didn't change though.

Enlarge: Didn't change, though having it be mandatory next turn was debated. I feel like it's a fun thing.

Figurine: Initially it gave +$2 and +1 Buy if you discarded an Action. Way too generous. For a bit I was hoping to get an Action - Treasure into the set; as you can see I settled for Spell Scroll. When I was pursuing that, some of them were Figurines.

First Mate: Unchanged except for a phrasing tweak.

Flagship: I tested "Throne a Treasure this turn, Throne an Action next turn." The Throne Treasure part seemed like it could just be +$2; then I thought of the next-time replayer. It cost $5 initially, but was too weak.

Fortune Hunter: The first version was a Duchess for Gold (it came free with Gold) and could play your top card if it was a non-Copper Treasure. Maybe that's just an unrelated card. Then I tried the published card, bam.

Frigate: The first version made +$4; that was too much. It also triggered on drawing cards; triggering on playing Actions is simpler and worked out. Initially you get the +$ next turn; it felt like it needed the push of giving you the +$ up front.

Gondola: Didn't change.

Grotto: This started as an Action, turned into a Treasure, then back to an Action. It originally had no limit, and was secretly powerful. And one version had you draw before discarding, so you couldn't draw the cards you were storing (when it was an unlimited giant pile of junk).

Harbor Village: I messed with the wording, but the premise stayed the same. Originally it let you play an Action, then checked if it gave you +$. It's nicer for a village to say +2 Actions though.

Jewelled Egg: This started as Damsel: +1 Action, +1 Buy, +$1, and when trashed, gain a Loot, and each player whose turn it isn't may play an Attack from hand. They're mad you hurt the Damsel, you see. The playing Attacks part was fun flavor but did not do enough to be worth the complication, and the card was a good fit for turning into a treasure.

King's Cache: This started out as a terminal Action for $5. Then it crept towards the only form it could have ever had.

Landing Party: Initially cost $3.

Longship: This came straight from Allies. Gloriously simple cards always have to fight for life, and this was going to be a good fit for Plunder.

Mapmaker: Preceded by an action that gave you 3 of the top 5, for $5. Then, the final card.

Maroon: This didn't change. Except the name, which was initially Ravage. You used to Ravage Cabin Boys and Stowaways; now you just Maroon them.

Mining Road: Initially didn't have the +1 Action. Most +Action +$ stuff in the set is Treasures, but this stayed an Action so you could play Treasure-gaining Actions after it.

Pendant: This slot for a while was dedicated to some kind of treasure that would be payload but not hurt your draw. The first version stayed out until you shuffled, then went into your hand. Then it went back to your hand next turn, but you had to discard a card. It made $2 and was a lot like Treasury. For a long time it clung to life, being sometimes okay, and then I tried some different Pendants and settled on this unrelated different-Treasures counter.

Pickaxe: Started out without the $1.

Pilgrim: Unchanged. Being simple, it had to fight for its life; that's the sad lot of these awesome cards.

Quartermaster: Early on I had a Duration card for $5 that gained a Copper, a Silver, and a Loot, setting them aside, and doled them out one per turn. You don't want Copper, right, so, how about a Silver, a Loot, and a card costing up to $4? This was briefly fun, but too strong. Then back to the Copper, but wait we hadn't liked that and still didn't. Then I tried, gain two differently named $4's, and get one each turn. Then I thought of the final card. It's an old idea in a form that finally works - having a stash of cards that you add to or take from.

Rope: Started as a Sailor in Seaside 2E. The first version there gave you all the stuff next turn, and could be played when anyone gained a Treasure. I liked it; it was in the set for a while. Then it moved here, dropped the reaction, and became a Treasure; then the coin and buy moved to the turn played.

Sack of Loot: Initially had neither the $1 nor the +Buy. The +Buy is so if you don't gain a Loot with +Buy with it, you're not so sad.

Search: The first version cost $3 and gave +2 Cards and +2 Actions; too generous. It didn't even trash itself. I changed it to the published version for $3, then later on dropped it to $2.

Secluded Shrine: This didn't change. A simple showcase for next-time.

Shaman: Hmmm, where does this story start. The first remotely related card in the file is "+1 Action, This turn when you trash a non-duration card, you may play it, leaving it there. Trash a card from your hand." Let me just wrap my head around that. So you trash Copper and get the +$1; you Remodel a Gold later in the turn and get the +$3, and so on. I don't remember that one, but it sure didn't last. Then I had an attack that gave out Curses and also said "The next time you gain, trash or discard a card in your Action phase, +$2." The idea being that you had to meet the condition to get the card back for another attack. Briefly that sounded good. Then I was back at the Remodel combos, with a Cursing attack with +$3 next turn and "Until then, when a player trashes one of their cards, they discard it." With various phrasings, messing with exactly when the card came back. Near the end of work on the set, Cade singled this out to complain about. The thing was, maybe somebody gets to trash 3 cards near the start of the game, and then there's no more trashing possible, and it's pretty random and how fun is that, for an expert like Cade. So I tried a version with an "In games using this" phrasing. That fixes that problem, but when we sat down to try it, I had another version I think we never played, and then the gain a trashed card every turn idea. Well that one was great, except it needed a cost limit, getting back Spell Scroll for example seemed problematic, especially when you could do it at start of turn with e.g. Enlarge. But this definitely seemed like the direction. Then Matt suggested that it shouldn't be a Witch, and I tried making it a trasher instead. Hooray, we got there. And it ended up one of my favorite cards in the set.

Silver Mine: Initially it played the card; now it goes to your hand. Another one under frequent attack. It's just some Explorer, and can't even get Gold; I dunno what to tell you, Dominion needs some simple cards.

Siren: A flavor-based card; what could a Siren do? They lure sailors to their deaths, but I didn't want an attack that punished Duration cards. Finally I thought of having to trash an Action to get one. And that's that, the card was done.

Stowaway: Briefly it triggered on other players playing Duration cards; then to the final version.

Swamp Shacks: Initially cost $3 and gave +1 Card per 4 cards you had in play. Mostly it was the final version, but at $3. It got a lot of extra testing. It's insane, how could this card exist, but initially it's bad and that makes all the difference.

Taskmaster: The first version made +$2, and then +1 Action each turn until you gained an Action. After that I jumped to the final card. The wording got tweaked repeatedly to try to be clear and avoid bad interactions, but it stayed basically the same.

Tools: This started as an Action for $5 with "Gain a copy of a card anyone has in play." To make it good enough it had to be a Treasure for $4. We worried about the final card a bunch. We tried it at $5 but that played worse. I considered limiting it to gaining Actions, so it couldn't gain a Tools, but in the end it gets to.

Trickster: The wording got tweaked, but what it did stayed the same.

Wealthy Village: The first village that gave Loot was +2 Actions, +$1, if your hand is empty gain a Loot. It was hard to proc. It got +Buy but whatever. Then I tried village, when you gain this gain a copy of a Treasure you have in play. A nice fit for the set, but well this is the Loot set right? What about gaining those. So then it was the published card. But wait, then it only counted non-Loot Treasures for a while, so that it didn't snowball as much. "Non-Loot" is way more complexity and confusion than you'd think, so it eventually lost it. When it first had that, Loot was Valuables, so it said, "if you have three non-Valuable treasures in play," which was funny.

*** Traits ***

Cheap: Unchanged. Not actually one of the first ones, but eventually you try this.

Cursed: Initially it came with an extra copy of the card plus a Curse. Late in the going there was the idea of a Trait coming with a Loot and a Curse, and hey that would be this slot, and fixed up how a cheap Cursed card was awful.

Fated: Unchanged except for wording tweaks.

Fawning: The first idea was, when you gain a card costing $2+ more than the Fawning card, you gained a Fawning card. That quickly turned into, it comes with Province. It was optional, but it seemed clearly more fun to make it mandatory.

Friendly: In a sense unchanged. A late addition, replacing "When you gain a Friendly card, you may discard 3 cards to gain a Friendly card."

Hasty: The first version put the card onto your deck when you gained it. Then, to your hand or onto your deck (this does not work). Then, set it aside and play it next turn.

Inherited: Unchanged except for wording tweaks and ruling tweaks; initially it was going to put the replaced card back if it was an Estate or Copper, but Cade noted that we had precedents there.

Inspiring: Unchanged. Suggested by Matt. Other +1 Action Traits had failed.

Nearby: Unchanged. It had to compete with "When you play one of these, +1 Buy" for a while; it didn't seem like I needed both, and this one was more interesting.

Patient: Initially you had to play the card, like with Way of the Turtle.

Pious: Unchanged.

Reckless: Initially played the card twice, then trashed it. Some work went into this wording, trying to deal with various cases that messed up tracking or had other issues. In the end it may not be quite there, but man, it's in the set.

Rich: Unchanged, though I also briefly tested, "When you gain or trash this, gain a Silver."

Shy: Unchanged.

Tireless: Initially you could pay $1 to put the card onto your deck when discarding it. This family of effects tends to be problematic because well you play that same card every turn, whatever it is. Sometimes it's a Witch, that game isn't amazing. For a while this died, then it came back with a version of Crew's mechanic of waiting until next turn to topdeck.

*** Loot ***

Amphora: Unchanged except for name.

Doubloons: At first it came with a Gold. Then it gained a Gold each time you played it. Then, back to coming with a Gold.

Endless Chalice: Tweaked the wording but kept it functionally the same. It didn't always have the big coin.

Figurehead: Started out making +$2.

Hammer: Initially gained $5's and didn't make $. Then non-VP $5's, then it made $2 and gained $4's. Then up to making $3.

Insignia: Unchanged.

Jewels: This slot had the vanilla Loot - just $3 - and then just $3 and +2 Buys. I tried letting you discard 2 cards for +$1; I tried coming with a token being used that game. Then it was a duration you could put on the top or bottom next turn, but that was nuts, so in the end it goes on the bottom.

Orb: Initially made $2 and played a card from your discard pile; yowza. Then a choice of playing a card or +$3; then playing a card or +$3 and +1 Buy.

Prize Goat: Initially had no +Buy.

Puzzle Box: Initially had no +Buy.

Sextant: I had one that made $3 and looked at the top 4 and discarded some, and one that made $2 and had you draw 5 and discard 5 on your next turn. That one got upped to $3, then replaced by the 5-card version of the first one, to avoid having another Duration Loot that could only be played every other turn.

Shield: Initially had no +Buy. Adding that made the text shrink but it ended up being the move anyway.

Spell Scroll: Initially a Treasure that gained a cheaper card to hand. There are situations where that doesn't work out nicely, so it changed to letting you play the card if it was an Action, while also saying "costing up to $6." Then, could also play Treasures, sometimes relevant. Then I made it also an Action for more flexibility.

Staff: This started out making $3 and letting you play an Action. Then it got +1 Buy. Then it was a choice of +1 Buy, play an Action, or +1 of a token you had at least one of. A fun ability that tried to sneak into a set with no tokens. Then there was a choose 2 version - +$3, +1 Buy, play an Action, next turn +2 Cards. I was happy with Figurehead though. Then down to a choice of +1 Buy or play an Action, and finally back to giving you both of those.

Sword: Initially had no +Buy.

*** Events ***

Avoid: Started out costing $3, with no +Buy. The premise of having cards miss shuffles like this started out in Hinterlands outtakes, made it out on Annex, and now these days is finally worth something. All it took was being cheap enough.

Bury: First I had, you may put your deck into your discard pile, then topdeck a card from it, with no +Buy. Scavenge! Then it got +1 Buy but I still wasn't happy. It gives you "repetitive gameplay"; a problem with lots of Scheme variants. Then I had an Event called Bury that set aside your next Treasure gained for next turn. It's a lot like Reap, which did not dazzle people. Then, wanting a Bury Event, I remembered Scavenge, and thought of the bottomdecking thing. It's way less repetitive and nicely novel.

Deliver: A later Event that worked great immediately.

Foray: This started out as, reveal/discard your top 3 cards, if they have different names gain a Loot, otherwise a Curse. Temple Robbery. It was really unattractive, so I made it always gain the Loot; that was crazy, so I had it not Curse, but only sometimes give the Loot. For a while that seemed fine, but gradually it became clear from online testing that while we never bought it, it was actually too strong. So I changed the condition to discarding different cards, and that worked out.

Invasion: How about another spendy Event? No changes. Just a flavorful mix of stuff.

Journey: This glorious monster leapt from my head fully-formed. I'd had a related idea in my notes for the holiday joke cards some years back (an attack called Icy Roads that made cards not be discarded from play).

Launch: Splitting the difference between Villa and Cavalry. Initially this didn't say "once per turn" and didn't give +1 Buy. It needed the +Buy for players who forget that they can't buy anything in their next buy phase; then since it had that it needed "once per turn." The version with neither was cool, but what can you do.

Looting: Initially cost $7.

Maelstrom: Based on the flavor. The first version was a double Masquerade - pass two cards, trash two cards. Then straight to the published card.

Mirror: Unchanged. Inspired by next-time Durations.

Peril: Cost $2, then $3, then $2 again.

Prepare: The only change was adding "face up."

Prosper: The first Event in the file. The first version gave you an extra Loot.

Rush: Another next-time card that never changed.

Scrounge: Initially it could get any card from the trash. Too many things made that a problem, including Spell Scroll, which was a pure Treasure at the time. So it became "Estate or Action." Then I changed Spell Scroll to be an Action and that was bad, so it's just "Estate."

*** Outtakes ***

Kingdom cards:
- I tried cantrip Silver gainer again (outtake from Dark Ages). It came with a Cargo so it would be good.
- What is this even. "+1 Buy. The next time you draw a Victory card, +3 Cards and discard this from play. Until then, play with your hand revealed."
- Peddler with "The next time you gain an Action for $5+, +1 Action."
- +$2, "The next time another player gains a card, you may gain a cheaper card." It looked nice on paper.
- The next time you have $7 or more, +$3 and +1 Buy. Then a cantrip version that gave +$1. It was a cute concept for Prosperity 2E (where it was same-turn) that someone always liked but which just never contributed much.
- At the start of your next turn, may play an Action, then draw to 6. I think LastFootnote suggested this.
- +1 Buy, they gain Curse, this turn when you gain an Attack, gain a Loot. Trying to get another Skirmisher. Then there was a version that also gave +$1 when you gained a Treasure.
- Cantrip, your Treasures come with cheaper cards. There were several versions that tried to restrict it enough but not too much. It started in Allies in a split pile and sometimes was super fun. It was always broken or stupid though.
- +$2, next time you gain an Action you topdeck it, until then Moat. This just sucks all the joy from a game with good attacks. There was also a version that just waited for an Attack, which, well, was an improvement.
- $2, next turn may return this for +2 Cards. This had been in an Allies split pile. We'd liked it there. Here it was totally fine but in the end there were more fun things to do. It was extra-cute in the spile pile, since returning to the pile meant it might cover up another card.
- Several versions of a Knight that only killed Actions ("Assassin"). There may still be something there, but it starts out anti-fun.
- A Duration Militia timed for when they play their first Treasure. Possibly a step towards Frigate.
- Cantrip, next time you shuffle, you first get a card from your discard pile to hand. That sounds interesting.
- Here's a treasure Knight that makes +$1 per attack and trashes $5's and $6's. There had been a Hinterlands outtake called War Axe and I kept wanting to use the name. There were other versions of this too; here's one that kills a $3-$6 and then turns into a cheaper-than-War-Axe treasure to hand.
- Trash this. You may play an Action from hand; gain a copy of it and play the copy. "Throne that turns into the card" has been on the ideas list for 15 years or so.
- Peddler, the next time the first card from a pile is gained, put this onto your deck. In its brief run, this seemed very cool, but was totally shot down by the tracking. One to remember if there's ever an online-only card.
- Remodel into a card costing up to $1 more than any card in the trash. Also: May trash a hand Treasure for a card costing up to $3 more. I did Enlarge.
- +3 Cards. May discard 3-4 cards with different costs to gain a Loot. At one point I was considering multiple new Smithies, and this one was a contender. You don't proc it much though.
- +3 Cards +1 Buy, when gain, gain a cheaper card and everyone else gains a copy. These days I'm down on Messenger-type things that quickly empty piles.
- Cantrip, set aside a card, may take it back at the start of a future turn. Overlapped too much with Cage / Grotto.
- A Knight for $3-$4's where the resources were playing one of the cards you ate, or you could gain and play a Silver instead.
- Gain a copy of a card from the trash costing up to $6 / when gain, trash a supply card for up to $4. I still like the premise, which tried out for an earlier set too.
- Action-treasure, $2, if it's your Action phase, Curse them. Then we tried, if it's your Action phase, +2 Cards. Trying to get a nice Treasure - Action for the set.

Events:
- Set aside an Action/Treasure from hand. Next turn, play it, gain a copy, play the copy.
- Each player gains a non-VP no-one has gained this turn, then you gain a 2nd. How does this play out?
- Gain a $5, set it aside, next time you shuffle you discard it. A very slow gainer.
- For each Treasure you have in play costing $5+, gain a cheaper card. So many ways to foosh cards in this set. "Foosh" is also the answer to the question from two cards up.
- Gain a card costing up to half the amount of $ you have. Cost $0. I've tried a few variations on this over the years.
- +3 Cards, until your next turn Moat. Can be rough when one player gets it going. Another version was +1 Buy +2 Cards.
- +1 Buy, pick a random unused Event, you may replace this with it. This kind of thing sounds fun but does nothing.
- +1 Buy, next time you gain a card this turn, gain a cheaper card. A runner-up.
- +1 Buy, once per turn: replay an Action you played this turn that's still in play. I don't remember how this went but it sounds dangerous rules-wise.
- Play a $4 from the Supply, trashing it. I don't remember it but it sounds like trouble.
- Trash a treasure from hand, gain one for up to $3 more, playing it. A runner-up.
- Once per turn: +1 Buy, may trash hand Action for +$1 per $1 it costs. Another runner-up.

Loot:
- May discard up to 2 Actions for +$2 each. Later, discard any number of cards for +$1 each. And, you may discard an Action for +$2. Some kind of Vault effect on top of your Gold and +Buy is well stronger than it looks.
- Copies of cards gained last turn cost $1 less this turn. Feels very unfair.
- Name a card. +$1 per copy of it you have in play. Coppersmith trying its luck again.
- +$1 per card you've gained this turn. Another unfair one.
- Action-Treasure with Choose one: +3 Cards or +$3. This might be the only draw.
- This turn you can buy cards from the trash, and when you do, +$1. Trying to get some exotic stuff into the pile, which did not so much want exotic stuff.
- Reveal the top Loot. If it's a Duration or one of these, +$3 and +1 Buy, otherwise play it leaving it there. Wait, otherwise play it then trash it. Wait, this just isn't working.

Cargo:
Right, before there were Traits, there was Cargo. Landscapes with "When you gain a Treasure..." and then what you got. Let's see what these looked like. This is just everything in the file; some had died before the concept did.
- +1 Favor
- may trash it to gain a cheaper card.
- +1 Card at end of turn
- may play an Action from hand
- may put it into your hand, then topdeck a hand card. No, maybe just, may topdeck a card.
- others discard down to 4
- may discard 2 cards to gain a $4. No, discard a Treasure. No, 2 Treasures.
- look through discard and may topdeck a card
- look at top 2, discard any #, topdeck the rest
- cards cost $1 less this turn
- Scheme an Action
- +$1, and if it's your first gain of the turn, +1 Buy. No, maybe just +$1.
- may trash hand Treasure
- name an action; gaining most recently named card gives Curse
- may gain 2nd copy and a Curse.
- may play cheaper supply Action you haven't played a copy of this turn, leaving it there

Traits:
- When playing, +1 Card then discard a card. Too slow and not fun and stuff.
- When gain, gain a Copper. When play, +$1. One of the first Traits; it made Traits look interesting and then was not good enough.
- When playing, if 1st card played this turn, +1 Action. Not the most fun way to get in +1 Action.
- The second time you play a copy of this each turn, +1 Buy. Then later, just a flat +1 Buy okay?
- Buy phase, may play an Action from hand per copy of this you have in play. In the end Inspired was the surviving +Action thing.
- Also a VP card. Worth 10VP if you have 2+ copies. The "is VP" part was soon dropped for being too hard to remember and not usually relevant (they go together). It lasted a while and was interesting sometimes and then was "I must replace this card that does nothing."
- Clean-up, if would discard, may return it for a card costing $1 more. Some Trait ideas had the problem of, Ways cover this already.
- When you gain or trash a card, may discard this, to trash the gained card or gain the trashed card. Tries hard but doesn't do enough.
- +$1. Later on I realized Traits could be stronger than they'd been. So, that earlier Trait with no bad part. It does not spark joy.
- Comes with a Copper. And hey the bad part by itself. It just kills the pile too often. It's cute when it doesn't.
- When-gain, look at top 5, discard any number, topdeck rest. A classic idea that has endlessly failed to get onto cards for various reasons. Imagine this on a $5, and you have the 5/2, and your opponent doesn't, but has good strong arms for flipping tables with.
- When you gain this other than while playing a copy of it, or discard it not in Clean-up, may play it. Trying for make-me-into-Trail.
- Instead of following its instructions, may play cheaper card with restrictions. Way of Band of Misfits. Ways were poor here, and Band of Misfits is awful here. So slow.
- This is a Duration card, it does its stuff twice on the turn after you play it. Then, cantrip this turn, normal effects next turn. I adored that card. It kept having issues though.
- When gain, if have a copy of this in play, Militia. Trying for another Skirmisher again.
- When gain, others gain Copper. I like the idea of getting a Copper attack in this way, but it produced zero fun. A 2nd version topdecked the Copper, take that.
- When discard from play, may trash for +2 Cards at end of turn. The tracking is bad. A 2nd version tried to fix that.
- Start of turn, may trash from hand to gain a cheaper card and Silver to hand. So strong.
- When trashed, gain a Loot. Everything's Jewelled Egg. Only, Jewelled Egg costs $2 for a reason.
- After playing, +1 Action, and others may play an Action. So slow and messy.
- Setup: set aside this pile, add another pile. When it empties, add this pile. There were two more versions of this; the last one is "Setup: set aside this pile. The first time a player plays a card costing $5 or more, add this pile to the game." The idea of the pile showing up Late sounded great; in practice it did nothing or just turned off the pile.
- When gain, reveal top 3, play the Actions/Treasures, discard the rest. Super Gamble, was super nuts. Then there was a one-card Gamble.
- When gain, +1 Card at end of turn. A runner-up; one of the original Goods, and it had always seemed fine, even if the tracking is a little weak. The hope was always that I'd do better, and I did.
- After playing, may trash a hand Gold for a hand Loot. Totally fine in the games where it did anything, which was not enough games.

Phew! This set is gigantic.
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