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[inverseParanoid]

(Now available with two different images. Pick and print whichever you like best. And feel free to give feedback or suggest a new image in the thread below.)

OR

NOTE: The above description has been modified to include the feedback below. The original OP and a second draft are quoted below. Special thanks to pokeman7452 for the graphic creation, Thanar for his help with the image search, blueblimp for help with the final description, and ftl for his work on the second draft. And another round of thanks for the many great ideas and feedback from all the wonderful people below (including Schlippy, LastFootnote, Matt_Arnold, rinkworks and eHalcyon)!

*Second Draft*

Ghost Town

+1 card
+2 actions

Whenever someone plays an action card that requires counting the cards in your hand, you may reveal ghost town and set it aside; return it to your hand after the action has been resolved.

$4 Action-Reaction

*Original Version*

Ghost Town

+1 card
+2 actions

This card does not count as a card "in hand." All Ghost Towns are trashed at game's end, prior to tallying the final score.

$5

Ghost Towns can have a tremendous affect on all action cards with "in hand" in their description. I'll attempt to outline all the potential scenarios it might impact below.

• When playing Library, Watchtower, or Jack of All Trades, draw until you have 7, 6 or 5 non-Ghost Town (non-GT) cards "in hand" (respectively), keeping any Ghost Towns but omitting them from your total "in hand" count.
• When attacked by Militia/Goons/Margrave/Followers you only have to "discard down" to 3 non-GTs "in hand," keeping any Ghost Towns but omitting them from your total "in hand" count.
• When attacked by Ghost Ship you only have to place cards on top of your deck until your hand contains 3 non-GTs. Note: you may still place Ghost Towns on top of your deck — perhaps for use in combination with multiple Shanty Towns or Menageries (see below for more info on the relationship between Ghost Town and those cards).
• If you're attacked by a Minion and you have a hand with 5 or more cards but 4 or less non-GTs, you may choose to discard your whole hand and draw 4 new cards, or reveal your Ghost Town(s) and keep your hand.
• When you play a Minion or a Tactician, you discard Ghost Town with the rest of your hand (since those specific functions aren't impacted by cards "in hand").
• Shanty Towns played with Ghost Town(s) and no other actions "in hand" still yield +2 cards.
• When you play a Menagerie and reveal a hand with duplicate Ghost Towns you only draw +1 card. (Again if "in hand" isn't in a card's description, Ghost Towns are treated like any normal card.)
• Since all Ghost Towns are trashed at game's end they do not count toward total deck size with Gardens, or as a unique card with Fairgrounds.

With #8 I wanted to create some sort of penalty to help balance the positive aspects of Ghost Towns out. I thought about it also not counting toward treasures like Horn of Plenty or Philosopher's Stone, but the card description already seemed too long to add any anti-HoP text, and the deck and discard counting function of Phi Stone means that it would make that card a real pain.

Let me know if you have any feedback.

[ftl]

I'm a little worried that "does not count as a card in hand" is sort of weird wording. Because, well, Ghost Town IS a card in hand - if your opponent counts the number of cards in your hand, they'll count the ghost town because they don't know it's there, they just see the back. It is, in fact, a card you are holding in your hand, and if someone counts your hand, they'll see it as a card in hand, because it is. Do you have to reveal the card? If I play a militia, and an opponent doesn't discard any cards claiming to have ghost towns, do they have to reveal them at the same time?  And the way it's phrased, it's not optional - it says "it does not count as a card in hand", not that it MAY not be counted, it's mandatory, but how would anyone else know if it's not revealed?

I would suspect that it's a little better to word it as a reaction. Something like "whenever you or an opponent plays an action that requires you to count the number of cards in your hand, you may reveal ghost town and set it aside; return it to your hand after the action has been resolved". Same effect in that you can make it not be in your hand when you don't want it to be, but without the weirdness about "not counting" as something that it actually is. Maybe even simplify that to "whenever someone plays an action card, you may reveal Ghost Town and set it aside until the action is resolved; then, return it to your hand". That would trigger menageries though, but maybe that's okay, for a $5 village. Oh, and I guess it would have other effects, it would save you from Masq pins...

I guess mostly I'm playing with words and  trying to avoid having a card claim to be something it's not. It's like a card that says "Action" and then the text says "this card does not count as an action card" - just seems sort of self-contradictory, and the set-aside mechanic seems like it would be a way to get the same effect without having to clarify how, exactly, a card that's in your hand can "count" as a not a card in your hand.

Sounds like an interesting card though. A $5 village is expensive, but there are so many things that it either combos with or interacts with that it might be worth it in a lot of cases?

Have you playtested this at $5 and $4? My initial sense would be that $4 is better for the card, since that makes it usable even in a deck without one of those specific combos, but maybe there are enough of those combo cards that that it'll be playable often enough at $5?

[LastFootnote]

Wow, ftl said almost everything I was going to say, only probably better!

Another option is to give the card a special backing (like Stash), but rules-clarity-wise I prefer the Reaction card that you can reveal when any Action is played. The only problem there is that Action cards are played constantly. A card that reacts to such a common event could be very problematic.

I really like the idea of Ghost Town in general, though. I hope there's a good way to word it!

[Schlippy]

I like the concept, but the main problem is that this is just a really expensive village in Kingdoms without cards that react to hand size.


For the wording, I suggest simply this:

Ghost Town

+1 card
+2 actions

You may set this card aside or put it back into your hand at any time, unless you played it. If you have this set aside at the beginning of your cleanup phase, discard it.


That will also make it a lot easier to resolve attacks with it.

[inverseParanoid]

Do you have to reveal the card? If I play a militia, and an opponent doesn't discard any cards claiming to have ghost towns, do they have to reveal them at the same time?  And the way it's phrased, it's not optional - it says "it does not count as a card in hand", not that it MAY not be counted, it's mandatory, but how would anyone else know if it's not revealed?

Yes it would have to be revealed. And it would be labeled as an Action-Reaction like Secret Chamber.

"whenever someone plays an action card, you may reveal Ghost Town and set it aside until the action is resolved; then, return it to your hand". That would trigger menageries though, but maybe that's okay, for a $5 village. Oh, and I guess it would have other effects, it would save you from Masq pins...

I think the added Masq and Menagerie utility are fine as well. The only tricky part is that now you can set this aside when playing a Tactician.

So I think a hybrid of your two descriptions "Whenever someone plays an action card that requires counting the cards in your hand, you may reveal ghost town and set it aside; return it to your hand after the action has been resolved"[/b] would be pretty close to perfect.

That would strip Masq, Menagerie, Tactician and Shanty Town functionality, but would also justify lowering the price down to $4 as you've suggested.

I guess mostly I'm playing with words and  trying to avoid having a card claim to be something it's not. It's like a card that says "Action" and then the text says "this card does not count as an action card" - just seems sort of self-contradictory, and the set-aside mechanic seems like it would be a way to get the same effect without having to clarify how, exactly, a card that's in your hand can "count" as a not a card in your hand.

Thanks! I really appreciate your help in clarifying the wording / function. I was trying to think of a way to word it concisely and clearly and the original definition was as far as I got.

I'm going to update the OP with your suggestions.

[Schlippy]

Didn't you consider my wording?
It would leave everything intact, but it would strip Tactician functionality, which is pretty much what you want.

[inverseParanoid]

I like the concept, but the main problem is that this is just a really expensive village in Kingdoms without cards that react to hand size.

Hopefully dropping the price to $4 resolves this.

For the wording, I suggest simply this:

Ghost Town

+1 card
+2 actions

You may set this card aside or put it back into your hand at any time, unless you played it. If you have this set aside at the beginning of your cleanup phase, discard it.

That will also make it a lot easier to resolve attacks with it.

That would probably work well for live games, but I'm just thinking of playing on Isotropic and having to answer a reaction pop-up EVERY single time an opponent plays an action. I think narrowing it down to a limited number of actions that it directly interacts with (Library, Watchtower, Jack of All Trades, Minion, Militia, Goons, Margrave, and Followers) would make for much smoother gameplay.

[inverseParanoid]

Didn't you consider my wording?
It would leave everything intact, but it would strip Tactician functionality, which is pretty much what you want.

I updated the OP before reading your post. If you have a way of wording it that also allow for smooth play on Isotropic, I'd be all for it.

However, I recognize the odds of a user-designed card actually making it onto Iso are very slim, but that's where I do almost all my playing, so it's hard to de-couple the association I make between Dominion and Iso. Would it be best for the thread to focus on optimizing this card only for real life play, and not for online?

[LastFootnote]

Didn't you consider my wording?
It would leave everything intact, but it would strip Tactician functionality, which is pretty much what you want.

I updated the OP before reading your post. If you have a way of wording it that also allow for smooth play on Isotropic, I'd be all for it.

However, I recognize the odds of a user-designed card actually making it onto Iso are very slim, but that's where I do almost all my playing, so it's hard to de-couple the association I make between Dominion and Iso. Would it be best for the thread to focus on optimizing this card only for real life play, and not for online?

Nah, I think it's totally reasonable to design your cards with both real-life and digital play in mind.

[Schlippy]

Isotropic could simply implement it by asking you to set it aside for every handsize attack and asking you when you click the card if you want to play it or set it aside until you played your next action.


If you want to have that in words:

Ghost Town

Choose one:
+1 card, +2 actions
or
+1 Action
Set this card aside. You may put back into your hand after you played an Action. Discard set aside Ghost Towns at the beginning of your cleanup phase.
--------------
You may set this aside when another player plays an attack. Put it back into your hand after the attack has resolved.

But this is a lot more complicated than just implementing it on Isotropic like I suggested.


edit: I just noticed that this could be abused with Throne Rooms. But every exploit I figured out is not really better than playing the first choice with Throne Room.

[inverseParanoid]

The original idea behind ghost town was sort of a card that was there "but wasn't there." Almost like a ghost town. It's still a town, it's just that there's no one there anymore.

I wonder if with that explanation the card could take on a wider meaning or slightly different functions.

[Schlippy]

The original idea behind ghost town was sort of a card that was there "but wasn't there." Almost like a ghost town. It's still a town, it's just that there's no one there anymore.

I wonder if with that explanation the card could take on a wider meaning or slightly different functions.

Like drawing six or seven cards in your cleanup phase when draw a ghost town, because it isn't there?

[inverseParanoid]

Like drawing six or seven cards in your cleanup phase when draw a ghost town, because it isn't there?

Haha, that was one of the overpowered traits I was trying to avoid with the original wording.

[Matt_Arnold]

I love it!

[LastFootnote]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I like the original wording of, "This card does not count toward your total hand size," or whatever it was. With a special card back, I think it's probably fine. I generally like to avoid cards with different backs if possible, but I think it's worth it here.

[inverseParanoid]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I like the original wording of, "This card does not count toward your total hand size," or whatever it was. With a special card back, I think it's probably fine. I generally like to avoid cards with different backs if possible, but I think it's worth it here.

Oh, I accidentally pasted over the original wording. It's been restored now in the quoted portion of the OP.

This card does not count as a card "in hand." All ghost towns are trashed at game's end, prior to tallying the final score.

What do you think of the original Gardens/Fairgrounds penalty (trashing the Ghost Towns at game's end so they don't count in your final card total or as a unique card for fairgrounds)?

[LastFootnote]

What do you think of the original Gardens/Fairgrounds penalty (trashing the Ghost Towns at game's end so they don't count in your final card total or as a unique card for fairgrounds)?

I think it's cute, but unnecessary. If it were me, I'd remove it.

[inverseParanoid]

I think it's cute, but unnecessary. If it were me, I'd remove it.

Yeah, it was the first thing to go once I realized proper wording just for the "not counting" affect was going to take a lot of words. Better to keep it focused in a singular direction.

[Matt_Arnold]

I hoped to find some way to phrase this card so that it simply triggers on any Action containing a certain word or words, without triggering for an absurd number of Actions that have no meaningful interaction. No such luck. I searched for a variety of uses of the word "hand" on the cards. I have bolded the cards which are obviously meaningful possible interactions with Ghost Town.

YOUR HAND

"into your hand"
Adventurer, Apothecary, Explorer, Farming Village, Hunting Party, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mine, Native Village, Scout, Scrying Pool, Wishing Well

"from your hand"
Ambassador, Apprentice, Bishop, Chapel, Courtyard, Develop, Expand, Explorer, Farmland, Fool's Gold, Forge, Haven, Horse Traders, Island, Jack of All Trades, Masquerade, Mine, Mint, Moat, Moneylender, Remodel, Salvager, Secret Chamber, Steward, Spice Merchant, Trader, Trading Post, Transmute, Treasure Map, Upgrade, Watchtower

"in your hand"
Throne Room, King's Court

"reveal your hand"
Menagerie, Crossroads, Shanty Town

"discard your hand"
Minion, Tactician

HIS HAND

"from his hand"
Bishop, Bureaucrat, Ghost Ship, Governor, Masquerade, Tournament, Young Witch

"in his hand"
Ghost Ship, Militia, Torturer

"discards his hand"
Minion

NO PRONOUN

"in hand"
Followers, Ghost Ship, Goons, Library, Margrave

I like the way you've taken it, even though I miss Masqerade, Menagerie, Tactician and Shanty Town interaction.

[blueblimp]

How about: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand." ? In a digital version, there'd just be some button you can hit that returns one to your hand.

Edit: There'd also need to be something like "During your clean-up phase, if this is set aside, discard it."

[Matt_Arnold]

How about: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand." ? In a digital version, there'd just be some button you can hit that returns one to your hand.

Edit: There'd also need to be something like "During your clean-up phase, if this is set aside, discard it."

This is my favorite. It interacts interestingly with Militia, Torturer, Margrave, Followers, Goons, Ghost Ship, Minion, Young Witch, Masquerade, Horse Traders, Tactician, Hunting Party, Menagerie, Shanty Town, Jack of All Trades, Library, and Watchtower.

[inverseParanoid]

How about: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand." ? In a digital version, there'd just be some button you can hit that returns one to your hand.

Would this impact how many cards you draw at the start of a new turn? Doesn't seem like it will, but it's something to consider in case someone might misconstrue it.

Edit: There'd also need to be something like "During your clean-up phase, if this is set aside, discard it."

We'd probably need to tweak this a little so that it doesn't interfere with haven/native village/island (all of which include "set aside" language). Maybe we'd change the description to "When you draw this card, you may set it aside on the ghost town mat. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand. During your clean-up phase, discard any cards on the ghost town mat."

[inverseParanoid]

How about: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand." ? In a digital version, there'd just be some button you can hit that returns one to your hand.

Edit: There'd also need to be something like "During your clean-up phase, if this is set aside, discard it."

This is my favorite. It interacts interestingly with Militia, Torturer, Margrave, Followers, Goons, Ghost Ship, Minion, Young Witch, Masquerade, Horse Traders, Tactician, Hunting Party, Menagerie, Shanty Town, Jack of All Trades, Library, and Watchtower.

The tactician trick might really make this over powered. Especially at just $4. You could play multiple tacts per turn, and that really unbalances a lot. I think we'd have to further tweak the language to:

"When you draw this card, you may set it aside on the ghost town mat. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand. During your clean-up phase or if you're made to "discard your hand," discard any cards on the ghost town mat."

Hopefully there's a more concise way to put it than that...

[rinkworks]

How about: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand." ? In a digital version, there'd just be some button you can hit that returns one to your hand.

Edit: There'd also need to be something like "During your clean-up phase, if this is set aside, discard it."

This is my favorite. It interacts interestingly with Militia, Torturer, Margrave, Followers, Goons, Ghost Ship, Minion, Young Witch, Masquerade, Horse Traders, Tactician, Hunting Party, Menagerie, Shanty Town, Jack of All Trades, Library, and Watchtower.

The tactician trick might really make this over powered. Especially at just $4. You could play multiple tacts per turn, and that really unbalances a lot.

As I was saying in another thread, adding complicated wording just to stop you from doing something rare and cool does two bad things at once.  Why NOT allow this trick?  It's only possible when both cards are in the same game, which would be a minority of games with either card, and even then can't activate the combo without drawing two Tacticians AND Ghost Town in the same hand.  That's a non-trivial amount of money to spend to get the cards, and a non-trivial amount of work to line them up properly.  Seems to me you ought to be able to do it.

Crazier things are possible:  Golems + 1 Counting House + Tunnels?  Any number of KC-Scheme tricks?

[inverseParanoid]

As I was saying in another thread, adding complicated wording just to stop you from doing something rare and cool does two bad things at once.  Why NOT allow this trick?  It's only possible when both cards are in the same game, which would be a minority of games with either card, and even then can't activate the combo without drawing two Tacticians AND Ghost Town in the same hand.  That's a non-trivial amount of money to spend to get the cards, and a non-trivial amount of work to line them up properly.  Seems to me you ought to be able to do it.

Crazier things are possible:  Golems + 1 Counting House + Tunnels?  Any number of KC-Scheme tricks?

You're right that multiple tacticians in one turn would be hard to pull off. Essentially you'd have to play your tact, and then draw another one somehow with only your set-aside ghost towns to start you off. This would be very hard to do without a +cards card to potentially draw to. And it would probably be optimal to just play this as more of a single tact (or single tact per turn), unless some serious trashing occurs. And you still need to buy treasure cards to have any buying power.

I divided the 17 cards that Ghost Town would affect into 4 categories, based on estimated impact they'd have when paired with GT. (Note: All percentages are based on there being Ghost Town + 162 kingdom cards available (which is base + all current expansions + promo).

Tier 1 (probability of a Ghost Town game including one or more Tier 1 cards: 15.85%)
Minion
Library
Watchtower

Tier 2 (probability of GT game including one or more Tier 1 or Tier 2 cards: 41.02%)
Ghost ship
Goons
Margrave
Militia
Tactician

Tier 3 (probability of GT game including one or more cards Tier 3 or better: 53.83%)
Hunting Party
Jack of All Trades
Menagerie
Shanty town
Torturer
(Note: I debated including Jack in Tier 2 but I think the silvers can get in the way of a Jack engine which isn't that good in the first place since it only draws to 5 cards anyway.)

Tier 4 (probability of GT game including one or more cards Tier 4 or better: 64.11%)
Tournament (Followers)
Horse Traders
Young Witch
Masquerade

That seems to be a pretty good level of interactivity. And it would mean that in approximately 50% of games Ghost Town would be better than the other four $4 villages (Farming Village, Mining Village, Walled Village, Worker's Village), and in 50% of games it would not. Making it of relatively equal value overall.

I think the final phrasing would be: "When you draw this card, you may set it aside. At any time during your action phase, you may return it to your hand. Discard any unreturned Ghost Towns during your clean-up phase."

[pokeman7452]

I can't wait to play with this one

[inverseParanoid]

I can't wait to play with this one

Ahhh! That looks awesome!

One question. As worded, is the card still a reaction card? Or is it just a regular action card with special instructions? I guess it "reacts" to you drawing a card...

EDIT: Added this picture to the OP!

[pokeman7452]

Yeah, I figured the reaction is when you draw the card. I can make it an action if you want.

[eHalcyon]

It's still a reaction.  Tunnel is a card that reacts to being discarded.  This is a card that reacts to being drawn.  If the text space allows it, you should probably say "reveal and set aside" instead of just "set aside".

[inverseParanoid]

It's still a reaction.  Tunnel is a card that reacts to being discarded.  This is a card that reacts to being drawn.  If the text space allows it, you should probably say "reveal and set aside" instead of just "set aside".

Oooo, thanks for that clarification eHalcyon!

Pokemon7452: If you feel like changing the picture to "reveal and set aside" it'd be much appreciated!

EDIT: Nevermind. I think it's fine as is unless someone else can raise a good reason to add the "reveal and" part.

[eHalcyon]

It's still a reaction.  Tunnel is a card that reacts to being discarded.  This is a card that reacts to being drawn.  If the text space allows it, you should probably say "reveal and set aside" instead of just "set aside".

Oooo, thanks for that clarification eHalcyon!

Pokemon7452: If you feel like changing the picture to "reveal and set aside" it'd be much appreciated!

Err, actually, I take that back.  Horse Traders just says "set aside", so I guess the "reveal" is implied.  My bad!

[inverseParanoid]

It's still a reaction.  Tunnel is a card that reacts to being discarded.  This is a card that reacts to being drawn.  If the text space allows it, you should probably say "reveal and set aside" instead of just "set aside".

Oooo, thanks for that clarification eHalcyon!

Pokemon7452: If you feel like changing the picture to "reveal and set aside" it'd be much appreciated!

Err, actually, I take that back.  Horse Traders just says "set aside", so I guess the "reveal" is implied.  My bad!

But you don't set aside cards from Horse Traders until you actually play them. With this card you set it aside without playing it, so the "reveal" language does help I think.

EDIT: Oh, I see. It doesn't say "reveal and set aside" in its REACTION description. I mixed up discard (its play function) with set aside (its reaction function).

[Thanar]

I laughed out loud when I saw Pokeman's card image... Okay, I admit it. In my spare time, I've been searching through various photo databases for good images of ghost towns.

Note: Some look better in the hi-res version, and some might need to have the contrast/saturation tweaked to make them pop a bit more.

Ghost town - A town permanently abandoned by its inhabitants.

Arizona, Apache Trail 020 Goldfield. Photo by Allie Caufield
Hi-res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wm_archiv/5802961077/sizes/l/in/photostream/


Bodie Sagebrush - One of the outbuildings in Bodie California. Photo by Jon Sullivan.
Hi-res version: http://pdphoto.org/jons/pictures4/bodie_14_bg_090604.jpg


Belchite. Town in Aragon, Spain - Destroyed during the Spanish Civil War (1937). Photo by ecelan
Hi-res version: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Belchite_-_Vista_general01.JPG


The ghost village of Balestrino, Liguria, Italy. Photo by Davide Papalini
Hi-res version: http://i35.tinypic.com/307lnck.jpg


Pentedattilo, a little ghost village, Calabria.
Hi-res version: http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6530/pentedattilo.jpg


Houses at ghost town of Kayaköy on Turkish coast. Photo by becotopia
Hi-res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/becotopia/6704351843/sizes/l/in/photostream/

[inverseParanoid]

Thanks Thanar!

I actually googled your name because I had no idea what the text in the picture meant, and thought Thanar might have been some fancy word for image or fan art.

I guess I was thinking of something more old and wooden. Like an abandoned town from the American Old West. Or really, anything with just a barren, dessert background that reinforces the idea of "deserted." This image here looks exceptionally good to me, but it's "All Rights Reserved."

Or something like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RobsartHospital.jpg


I'm definitely flexible around what the final image will look like though, so please feel free to continue offering suggestions for how it should look and why. While I have a decent aesthetic eye, it's probably not nearly as well honed as the great Thanar's

A Note on Wood vs. Stone
When I see an abandoned stone city, I imagine people having lived there for hundreds of years, only finally abandoning the place they called home as the culture that kept them there reaches extinction. Abandoned wooden structures, on the other hand, have a fleeting feel to them. They may have sprung up overnight in response to a gold sighting that never panned out, or as an outpost along a popular trail that was later supplanted by more modern means of travel. It's this transitory nature that Ghost Town seems to embody most. The moment you draw it, it's out of your hand. The moment it's back in your hand, it's already in play.

[inverseParanoid]

Golem + Ghost Town

Golem: Reveal cards from your deck until you reveal 2 Action cards other than Golem Cards. Discard the other cards, then play the Action cards in either order.

With that above description of Golem, it sounds like you wouldn't be able to set Ghost Town aside when Golem triggers it, because you never technically drew it and Golem explicitly instructs you to play it.

Am I correct about this interpretation?

[Thanar]

inverseParanoid,

I understand what you mean when you make the distinction between old wood and old stone.

The term "ghost town" in English came from the late 1800s and definitely evokes the old wood buildings of abandoned midwestern towns (often connected with mining operations). So wood is the way to go if you want to evoke that. I'll post some more of those that I came across.

Most dominion cards are based on quasi-medieval themes, so that's why I included some European images, which are generally made of stone. These might be better termed ghost villages (the term that seems to be used for them online).

P.S. The "Thanar needed" is an inside joke based on several other variant card threads where I've hunted down images and posted them. I think it's great to have multiple suggestions, and good to have your input on what you're looking for in an image.

[inverseParanoid]

Most dominion cards are based on quasi-medieval themes, so that's why I included some European images, which are generally made of stone. These might be better termed ghost villages (the term that seems to be used for them online).

Ah, I didn't even think about keeping with the quasi-medieval theme. I scanned the card list and found that the only other card that seems to not fit the medieval time period is fool's gold. Which oddly enough was also a term coined in the late 1800s (often connect with mining operations).

So we do have precedent to go with a more modern look, unless we find an exceptionally good medieval themed pic.

[Thanar]

I did a bit more searching for usable images (i.e. Creative Commons license that allows derivative works with attribution) from the ghost town in Bodie, CA (one of the most iconic in the U.S.) and came up with these possibilities:

Bodie, California. Photo by Wolfgang Staudt
Hi-res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/2907630977/sizes/l/in/photostream/


Wheaton & Hollis Hotel; Bodie State Historic Park. Photo by Larry Myhre
Hi-res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrymyhre/5184747531/sizes/o/in/photostream/


Town House Bodie. Photo by Michael Feist
Hi-res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catchthefuture/1666752238/sizes/l/in/photostream/


Others to consider:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/werkmens/3798259199/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raindog/2809402786/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcookfisher/2481964464/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/notthisorthat/2568660680/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrymyhre/6156993488/

[jider]

So you could potentially add this card to your hand AFTER you play a tactician, play it, draw a lab and then play another tactician if you draw it with the lab? 

[inverseParanoid]

So you could potentially add this card to your hand AFTER you play a tactician, play it, draw a lab and then play another tactician if you draw it with the lab?

This is correct, though it's not as easy as it may seem to play two tacts in a single turn. You'd probably need a strong card drawing engine and some luck to find another tact organically (as you mentioned in your example). Or you'd just need to draw two out into your hand and then top deck one with mandarin or courtyard. But even that's tough because you'd have to draw enough cards to expose both tacts. So you'd need a thin deck or some added drawing power at a minimum.

Or if you're planning to play two tacts per turn operation would require 4 tacticians and at least one ghost town and at least one deck topper (courtyard/mandarin). So for that setup to be profitable, you'd need to have vault, secret chamber, or a lot of action +coin cards, since you'd be discarding your whole deck with the tacts, anyway.

So while ghost town could make for a very powerful engine, it would take a lot of extra setting up than your standard single tact or double tact strategies. I would think that the most viable way it'd play out is as a hybrid of sorts, where you buy two or three tacts and plan to usually only play one per turn, but occasionally find a way to get a second.

Either way, as rinkworks said, it's probably more fun to allow this rare interaction than it is to write difficult language to try to make it impossible. The bottom line is that Ghost Town adds for a lot of interesting possibilities, and things to take into account that will keep us on our toes every time it comes up.

[inverseParanoid]

I did a bit more searching for usable images (i.e. Creative Commons license that allows derivative works with attribution) from the ghost town in Bodie, CA (one of the most iconic in the U.S.) and came up with these possibilities:

I think I like this one the best out of that bunch: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcookfisher/2481964464/

Maybe we could look for an animated version of a ghost town. Something with translucent buildings could look pretty cool. And it might be able to bridge the gap between medieval and old west.

[pokeman7452]

I'll add that image and fix the font soon, I have been pretty busy recently. Thanar and I have been a card making duo as of late. He provides the excellent images, I make the card. I was hoping that would give him a laugh.
Also, depending on how you define "any time" you could potentially TR/KC a Tactician and restoring a Ghost Town to your hand between each play to double/triple the Tactician. Still, there are many OP combos in Dominion, some more powerful than this.

[inverseParanoid]

Also, depending on how you define "any time" you could potentially TR/KC a Tactician and restoring a Ghost Town to your hand between each play to double/triple the Tactician. Still, there are many OP combos in Dominion, some more powerful than this.

Wow, that is kind of OP. I guess you have to have the ghost towns already drawn and set aside to pull this off. Although KC + tact + ghost town games would be pretty crazy. 2 Tacts, a few ghost towns, and a few KCs would make it pretty easy to draw at least 20 cards every turn.

[inverseParanoid]

I'll add that image and fix the font soon, I have been pretty busy recently. Thanar and I have been a card making duo as of late. He provides the excellent images, I make the card. I was hoping that would give him a laugh.

If I had to pick an image to go with right now, this one would be my vote.

[pokeman7452]

Personally, I would have gone for one with multiple buildings, but it's your card, your call. Fonts are fixed up. I could not find photo credit for this picture, just a wikipedia username. If you ever do want a different photo, let me know, they are pretty easy to swap out.

Now that the card is complete, I have updated my post to include the hi-res card (click the image.) You may want update your first post with this.

[Thanar]

It is really motivating to have such quick and productive collaboration on this forum: from card idea, to critiquing, to wording, to playtesting, to searching for possible images, to a final card image design in a matter of days. The result: an interesting and good-looking Ghost Town card.

I will be printing out this and many other cards that have been made in the past week and adding them to my ever-heavier variant card Dominion box for play during my upcoming vacation.

[inverseParanoid]

Personally, I would have gone for one with multiple buildings, but it's your card, your call. Fonts are fixed up. I could not find photo credit for this picture, just a wikipedia username. If you ever do want a different photo, let me know, they are pretty easy to swap out.

If you want to make a mock up of the multiple building one for us to see, maybe it will look much better in context. I'm definitely open to new picture ideas, I just loved the beat up nature of the building currently in use. And I've always envisioned it as being able to see the ghost town from a distance.

Now that the card is complete, I have updated my post to include the hi-res card (click the image.) You may want update your first post with this.

Done. Thanks!

EDIT: If you feel inspired, do you think you could center the image so that there's an equal amount of "white space" (i.e. open sky) on both sides? No big deal either way. And thanks for all your work!

[inverseParanoid]

It is really motivating to have such quick and productive collaboration on this forum: from card idea, to critiquing, to wording, to playtesting, to searching for possible images, to a final card image design in a matter of days. The result: an interesting and good-looking Ghost Town card.

It was great working with you!

I will be printing out this and many other cards that have been made in the past week and adding them to my ever-heavier variant card Dominion box for play during my upcoming vacation.

Cool, let us know how it goes!

[pokeman7452]

[Thanar]

Thanks for the updates, Pokeman (I haven't printed mine out just yet).

A couple remaining issues:
1) This last card image for Ghost Town doesn't have a link to a hi-res version.
2) The text on Almoner is still a bit too small.

[pokeman7452]

1) This last card image for Ghost Town doesn't have a link to a hi-res version.

That's because it's just a concept, to see if inverseParanoid likes that better than the current image.

2) The text on Almoner is still a bit too small.

Fixed

[inverseParanoid]

That's because it's just a concept, to see if inverseParanoid likes that better than the current image.

Would it be possible to have two different versions of the card and just let people pick and print whichever one they like best?

There's no real reason to have a unified version of the card at this stage, and letting people have what they want sounds better to me than forcing them to conform to one person's taste.

I can even update the OP to show both versions.

[pokeman7452]

Would it be possible to have two different versions of the card and just let people pick and print whichever one they like best?

Done

[inverseParanoid]

Would it be possible to have two different versions of the card and just let people pick and print whichever one they like best?

Done

Cool. OP updated with to include both versions.