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[Rush_Clasic]

Original version

Investigator - (4)
Action
+$2
Choose another player and an Action card from the supply. That player reveals his or her hand. If a copy of that card is revealed this way: +1 Card, +1 Buy. Otherwise, trash that card from the supply.

Changed due to the issues outlined in the responses below.

Investigator - (4)
Action
+$2
Choose an Action card from the supply. The player to your left reveals his or her hand. If a copy of that card is revealed this way: +1 Card, +1 Buy. Otherwise, trash that card from the supply.

• This card came about from brainstorming ways to press the piles. If the inspection succeeds, you get extra buys. If it doesn't, you at least can trash a card from the supply.
• I restricted it to Action cards because I didn't want people choosing Copper and Estates right away. I could have written that out on the card instead, but it looks ugly and tedious.
• It doesn't grant extra actions because the self-combo just doesn't seem that interesting when accomplished so easily. I didn't want this to just be another Conspirator.
• Cards don't usually target specific players (and for good reason), but it seems fine in this limited case, especially since it doesn't directly harm said player (unless he or she has a single pile strategy). *see posts below*
• Since it came up in my last thread: I'm naming these threads like this so it's easier to track them should I ever want to revisit or catalog them.

[popsofctown]

Seems ok, though I'm not dying to play with it or anything

[Schneau]

I think it would be slightly more stable to have it always be the player to your left. That way, in multiplayer games, you don't have the issue of being able to see someones hand when a player before you plays Investigator, and have an advantage of knowing what is in their hand.

[Rush_Clasic]

I think it would be slightly more stable to have it always be the player to your left. That way, in multiplayer games, you don't have the issue of being able to see someones hand when a player before you plays Investigator, and have an advantage of knowing what is in their hand.

I didn't want it to be a useless option if the player to your left is going big money. I also think this type of interaction allows for some fun interplay, and allows you to target someone, say, to your right that's going all Pirate Ship or some other insular strategy. I'm not sure how important foreword information of a player's hand is in this game, but it's a topic I'd enjoy hearing more theory about.

[iangoth]

It's not really in the spirit of Dominion to choose who you interact with. A relatively unique aspect of the game is that it manages to create an interesting multiplayer experience with little to no politics. People who want that kind of political interaction are probably going to prefer a game like Settlers of Catan.

Edit: Also, if it wasn't clear from Schneau's post, if a player is targeted by an investigator, every player who goes before him can re-investigate him and know exactly what to pick. That's not a desirable mechanic.

[rinkworks]

I'm not sure I get this one.  I don't really see a balance problem, but I'm not sure what my goal would be when buying one.  If I wanted to trash cards from the supply, I guess I'd purposely choose a card that my chosen opponent didn't buy?  On the other hand, if I want the +Card and +Buy, I'd try to get a hit.  But if it fails, how would trashing a supply card be a helpful thing for me, except maybe once in a while by purest coincidence?

Trashing cards from the supply is a really rare thing to actually want to do.  One case might be if you're going for Provinces but your opponent is going Gardens (for example; any two distinct VP strategies will suffice), and then you might be happy to trash the other player's Victory cards out from underneath him.  That would be fairly marginal, though, and in any case second choice to buying up some of the other card for yourself, however.  And this card restricts you to Action cards anyway, so never mind.

Anyway, whenever you do want to do it, it's weird that this card would make you come up with a bad guess in order to do it; and if you'd rather have the +Card and +Buy, then I'm thinking you'd rarely if ever care about supply trashing as the consolation prize.

Just to be clear, it's perfectly fine to have a card whose usefulness is situational.  I just don't see the synergy within the card.  It's entirely possible I'm missing some clever use of the card, but I don't see one off-hand.

[zahlman]

But if it fails, how would trashing a supply card be a helpful thing for me, except maybe once in a while by purest coincidence?

Because you are in the lead and want to end on piles before your opponent's engine can catch up.

I actually had a simpler idea: "+1 card, +1 action, +1 VP, trash an action card from the Supply". I suspect that has to cost at least 6, though.

[Rush_Clasic]

It's not really in the spirit of Dominion to choose who you interact with. A relatively unique aspect of the game is that it manages to create an interesting multiplayer experience with little to no politics. People who want that kind of political interaction are probably going to prefer a game like Settlers of Catan.

Edit: Also, if it wasn't clear from Schneau's post, if a player is targeted by an investigator, every player who goes before him can re-investigate him and know exactly what to pick. That's not a desirable mechanic.

We used to play a lot of Settlers around here. We now like Dominion much more.

Initially, this card was just going to reveal all players' hands, but I felt that was too easy a trigger condition. I overlooked that my fix doesn't actually change that in multiplayer if you target the player on your right and other players are using Investigators. It's tricky getting this idea of multiplayer interaction down since it's so prevalent at all times, as opposed to a game with a slow and steady accumulation of resources.

Given that in mind, I suppose I would change it to the player on your left ala Tribute.

I'm not sure I get this one.  I don't really see a balance problem, but I'm not sure what my goal would be when buying one.  If I wanted to trash cards from the supply, I guess I'd purposely choose a card that my chosen opponent didn't buy?  On the other hand, if I want the +Card and +Buy, I'd try to get a hit.  But if it fails, how would trashing a supply card be a helpful thing for me, except maybe once in a while by purest coincidence?

Trashing cards from the supply is a really rare thing to actually want to do.  One case might be if you're going for Provinces but your opponent is going Gardens (for example; any two distinct VP strategies will suffice), and then you might be happy to trash the other player's Victory cards out from underneath him.  That would be fairly marginal, though, and in any case second choice to buying up some of the other card for yourself, however.  And this card restricts you to Action cards anyway, so never mind.

Anyway, whenever you do want to do it, it's weird that this card would make you come up with a bad guess in order to do it; and if you'd rather have the +Card and +Buy, then I'm thinking you'd rarely if ever care about supply trashing as the consolation prize.

Just to be clear, it's perfectly fine to have a card whose usefulness is situational.  I just don't see the synergy within the card.  It's entirely possible I'm missing some clever use of the card, but I don't see one off-hand.

The strategy I'm trying to suggest is one that aims to gather VP quickly and eliminate piles. Ideally, you'd always name a card in your opponent's deck early on. If you hit, you get the direct benefits. If you miss, you still press the piles. Whether this card effectively pushes that strategy is up for question, but that's the intention of its design.

[rinkworks]

But if it fails, how would trashing a supply card be a helpful thing for me, except maybe once in a while by purest coincidence?

Because you are in the lead and want to end on piles before your opponent's engine can catch up.

I get the general use for supply trashing.  What I'm saying is, if I don't care about supply trashing enough to purposely miss with my choice of Action card and opponent, then what are the odds I'll care about it at all as a consolation prize for missing?  That's the connection I'm not getting.

The strategy I'm trying to suggest is one that aims to gather VP quickly and eliminate piles. Ideally, you'd always name a card in your opponent's deck early on. If you hit, you get the direct benefits. If you miss, you still press the piles. Whether this card effectively pushes that strategy is up for question, but that's the intention of its design.

Ah, I see.  So the idea is that you drain piles either way, but the "good way" is to get the cards you pull from the supply instead of merely trashing them?

In that case, I might suggest some sort of gaining mechanic for the "win" bonus, rather than the generic +1 Card, +1 Buy.  Having an extra buy doesn't mean you'll use it, or even that you'll be able to use it.  If you're trying to drain a pile costing $3 or more, this card only guarantees that you can do that if you miss your guess.  More to the point, +buys go unused a LOT of the time, owing to general Dominion principle that one great thing is better than two good things.  So unless you can get more than $8 to spend, you'd normally rather put the flat +$2 towards a better card than toward a second one.  Loads of exceptions to this, of course, but if you put a gaining effect in there, you could ensure that (1) supply piles are drained even if you guess right, and (2) you're able to drain piles if you guess right.

Gainers are tough to balance, though, so it's a tricky proposition.