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[Rush_Clasic]

Trickster (4)
Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Name a card. The player to your left guesses whether a card with that name is in your hand. You may reveal your hand. If you do and your opponent guessed wrong, gain a card costing up to $4.

• I spent a long time figuring out what this card's bonus mechanic would give you. I want to make it a mini-Market at one point, costing $3, but wasn't sure how good that'd be and didn't like how it fit with the rest of the card. I also at one point felt curses were the route to go, but the wording was awkward and it still didn't feel right. A Workshop variant is where my mind lead.
• I gave this +1 Card and +1 Action because of the self-synergy it inspires. Not all cards should have a strong self-synergy, but this one creates a fun mini-game. If you miss on the first Trickster, you can play another one, draw a card, and set up what is basically a one card "do I or don't I" scenario. And if you did hit on the first Trickster, the card draw on the next one allows the bluff to at least have real value, even if its a bit diminished.
• Would it be too political to say "a random opponent" instead? Just a thought.

[eHalcyon]

I like the mechanic.  I don't like the bonus.  Gaining a $4 card isn't that great, and making it unreliable with Trickster doesn't help the card.

[Rush_Clasic]

I like the mechanic.  I don't like the bonus.  Gaining a $4 card isn't that great, and making it unreliable with Trickster doesn't help the card.

I was going to have it gain a $5 or less card, but I thought that might be too good. I don't mind it being slightly weak; the bonus could be all sorts of things and still keep the card interesting.

[Morgrim7]

I don't like this. I puts poker players at a huge advantage. Also, instead of "Gain a card costing up to 4" you could have: "+1 Card +$1" or some sort of benefit like that.

[Rush_Clasic]

I don't like this. I puts poker players at a huge advantage. Also, instead of "Gain a card costing up to 4" you could have: "+1 Card +$1" or some sort of benefit like that.

I don't see how adding that bit of strategy to the game is a bad thing. Liar's games are traditionally fun in small capacity.

[Morgrim7]

I don't like this. I puts poker players at a huge advantage. Also, instead of "Gain a card costing up to 4" you could have: "+1 Card +$1" or some sort of benefit like that.

I don't see how adding that bit of strategy to the game is a bad thing. Liar's games are traditionally fun in small capacity.

Yes, but this is a game of skill and knowledge. Not a good game face.

[Rush_Clasic]

I don't like this. I puts poker players at a huge advantage. Also, instead of "Gain a card costing up to 4" you could have: "+1 Card +$1" or some sort of benefit like that.

I don't see how adding that bit of strategy to the game is a bad thing. Liar's games are traditionally fun in small capacity.

Yes, but this is a game of skill and knowledge. Not a good game face.

This card requires both skill and knowledge: the knowledge to calculate and follow the probabilities of what cards are in your deck (or in your neighbor's deck, if he or she is the one using this card), and the skill to determine what level another person's intuition is on. You could play this card as just a bluffing game, but there's more to the actual tactics than just naming and hoping.

[eHalcyon]

Yes, but this is a game of skill and knowledge.

Swindler, Tournament, Familiar.

[Grujah]

I don't like this. I puts poker players at a huge advantage. Also, instead of "Gain a card costing up to 4" you could have: "+1 Card +$1" or some sort of benefit like that.

I don't see how adding that bit of strategy to the game is a bad thing. Liar's games are traditionally fun in small capacity.

Yes, but this is a game of skill and knowledge. Not a good game face.

Contraband?
Also PPR.

[ftl]

It seems that as it is, the card is a little... incoherent? Unthematic? The 'gain a card costing up to $4' seems completely out of the blue; I would have expected the bonus to be something to do with the card you named, or something to do with your opponent's guess. The two parts of the card, the gaining and the guessing seem like they don't work together at all.

Also, gaining a card costing up to $4 seems like a pretty weak bonus. Lets say you get a 50% success rate - this card is going to be like half of an ironworks or workshop, although the cantrip part makes it better. Half of an ironworks or workshop just seems so weak.

[Captain_Frisk]

How many more cards do you have rush?  Perhaps this series needs its own sub forum?

[Titandrake]

I've tried to make subgame style cards before, but they never seem to work out. My hit rate is something like 1 out of the 5 cards I tried/

One of the general problems might be a power-based issue. Because you can't guarantee winning a subgame, the card has to give you an incentive to buy it in the first place. So, if you win, you get a strong effect for the cost. Then, in order to balance this out, you need to give a weak effect when the player loses. They look interesting, but then once you realize that the effect is guaranteed, a lot of the charm goes away. It feels like the card is setting you up to lose when you need it most. At least, it does to me.

I think that if you want to make a subgame-based card, it needs to:

0. Not include politics. Well, this isn't necessary, but Dominion is deliberately as non-political as possible.
1. Line up with deckbuilding in some way. Conspirator encourages cantrip buying. Menagerie encourages variety.
2. Give a big bonus. If the bonus isn't big enough, people don't feel like trying it out.
3. If it doesn't do 1 or 2, then the subgame should be primarily luck-based. Wishing Well is inconsistent, but it's silly inconsistent. You don't feel that you need to build to the bonus +1 Card, and even if you do it doesn't always work. The card's still fun anyways. Tribute is also similar in this way.

[Rush_Clasic]

That's another reason I made this +1 card, +1 action. Losing doesn't cost you much in the same way that losing your Wishing Well guess doesn't. The numbers might need some tweaking, but getting a playtest group together isn't likely for me any time soon. Unless there's a good online program that I don't know of....

It seems that as it is, the card is a little... incoherent? Unthematic? The 'gain a card costing up to $4' seems completely out of the blue; I would have expected the bonus to be something to do with the card you named, or something to do with your opponent's guess. The two parts of the card, the gaining and the guessing seem like they don't work together at all.

Also, gaining a card costing up to $4 seems like a pretty weak bonus. Lets say you get a 50% success rate - this card is going to be like half of an ironworks or workshop, although the cantrip part makes it better. Half of an ironworks or workshop just seems so weak.

I see your point. I like a lot of self involvement with my cards, so what you're suggesting is something I would choose to do, and often. I could make it, for example, gain a card with a cost equal to that of the named card, but that makes the guessing game less valuable as a tactic and make the card way more swingy. I didn't relate what you get to the card named because that disconnection allows the mini-game to be played better. What you receive could be all sorts of things; flavor-wise, I felt snagging a card from the supply made sense.

How many more cards do you have rush?  Perhaps this series needs its own sub forum?

This isn't so much a storage of cards I'm working through (though I do set aside and save design ideas). It's more a self-imposed challenge to design a card every day. The goal is to keep my designer instincts toned while building my developer with the aid of this forum's commentary (which has been quite valuable in only a week's time).

As for the presentation method, posting multiple cards at once get's easily overwhelming in a format like forum posting. It's just easier to streamline the content down to a general idea per thread. I could flood the forums that way, but won't out of respect to it. If a thread-a-day proved to be daunting and unwelcomed, I'd slow it down.

[eHalcyon]

Name-wise, "Trickster" reminds me of "Jester".  Going from ftl's suggestion, how about this to make it more thematic:

Trickster (4)
Action-Attack
+1 Card
+1 Action
Name a card costing up to $5. The player to your left guesses whether that card is in your hand.  You may reveal your hand.  If you do and if they guessed wrong, either you gain a copy of the card or everyone else does, your choice.

I think it has to be classified as an attack in this case, because you may be causing all the other players to gain a junk card.  If you isolate it to the guesser, then it's too much like a targeted attack.

Alternatively, you could have the player try to name a card that is in your hand, and if they fail then (as before) either everyone else gets a copy or you do.  This one is probably tamer because the guesser is probably never going to guess Curse.

[rinkworks]

2. Give a big bonus. If the bonus isn't big enough, people don't feel like trying it out.

100% yes.  When an effect isn't guaranteed, it can be ridiculously higher than it can be on a guaranteed card.

1. Conspirator:  $7 cards for $4.
2. Wishing Well:  Laboratory for $3.
3. Tournament:  Gain a Prize!?
4. Treasure Map:  Gain four top-decked Golds!?
5. City:  Laboratory + Village + Market!?
6. Gardens/Vineyard/Silk Road/Duke:  Play them right, and they're better than Provinces for cheap.
7. King's Court:  Turn one Mountebank/Grand Market/Rabble into three.
8. Adventurer:  Terminal +$6.  Platinum games can be +$10.
9. Counting House:  Terminal +$7 out of the box with no hard upper limit.

And so on.  It's tough to balance these kinds of cards, but don't be afraid to make a conditional bonus pretty sweet as a starting point for your playtesting.

Also, definitely try to come up with a bonus that synergizes with the rest of the card.  Even if it's just vanilla bonuses, that will dictate how the card plays.  (See Conspirator, which is nothing but vanilla bonuses and yet plays in a very particular way.)  If your card just feels like a mish-mash of miscellaneous effects that can't really be harnessed into a coherent strategy, then nobody's ever going to want it.

[One Armed Man]

1. Conspirator:  $7 cards for $4.
2. Wishing Well:  Laboratory for $3.
3. Tournament:  Gain a Prize!?
4. Treasure Map:  Gain four top-decked Golds!?
5. City:  Laboratory + Village + Market!?
6. Gardens/Vineyard/Silk Road/Duke:  Play them right, and they're better than Provinces for cheap.
7. King's Court:  Turn one Mountebank/Grand Market/Rabble into three.
8. Adventurer:  Terminal +$6.  Platinum games can be +$10.
9. Counting House:  Terminal +$7 out of the box with no hard upper limit.

All these cards have can be far worse when conditions are not met, though; most can be worse than a cantrip.
1. terminal silver
2. cantrip
3. +1 action
4. trash itself?
5. village (admittedly better than cantrip)
6. Alt-VP: all worth 2 or less
7. nothing
8. terminal draw 2 coppers
9. nothing

[rinkworks]

1. Conspirator:  $7 cards for $4.
2. Wishing Well:  Laboratory for $3.
3. Tournament:  Gain a Prize!?
4. Treasure Map:  Gain four top-decked Golds!?
5. City:  Laboratory + Village + Market!?
6. Gardens/Vineyard/Silk Road/Duke:  Play them right, and they're better than Provinces for cheap.
7. King's Court:  Turn one Mountebank/Grand Market/Rabble into three.
8. Adventurer:  Terminal +$6.  Platinum games can be +$10.
9. Counting House:  Terminal +$7 out of the box with no hard upper limit.

All these cards have can be far worse when conditions are not met, though; most can be worse than a cantrip.
1. terminal silver
2. cantrip
3. +1 action
4. trash itself?
5. village (admittedly better than cantrip)
6. Alt-VP: all worth 2 or less
7. nothing
8. terminal draw 2 coppers
9. nothing

Good point worth pointing out.  The third piece is to consider the likelihood that the best/average/worst case will happen.

1. Need to load up on cantrips or Villages, ideally trash down a bit.  Controllable things, but setting them up takes time and work.
2. Easy to miss, but you can increase your chances with the right deck or enablers.
3. Need a Province (hard to do early) and need to collide it (also hard to do; easier if you invest in enablers).
4. Almost always luck-based and difficult to do.  The luck can be mitigated by deck size and enablers.
5. Board-dependent, but you can't activate them early, and raising them to Level 3 might very well mean the game is almost over.
6. Board-dependent.  If these aren't good buys, you don't invest in them in the first place, so there's very little downside.  But making them work takes work, and work is worth rewarding even in the absence of significant risk that they'll utterly fail.
7. Deck control can make this work, but you still get orphaned KC's now and then.
8. Trashing enables this.  See #6.
9. Luck-based, but the luck can be mitigated by deck size and enablers.

Consider all three things together, and you can figure out the right balance.  As I said, these are very difficult cards to make work right.  It takes a lot more playtesting than the usual card and probably benchmarking as well.

[Kahryl]

Take away the cantrip, and how about:

"Name a card costing up to $6. The opponent to your left guesses whether it's in your hand. If he guesses right, you gain a copy of that card. If he guesses wrong, you gain a copy of any other card costing up to $6."

So it's a double-mindgame of "does he have that card" and "does he want me to guess right or wrong"

[rinkworks]

Take away the cantrip, and how about:

"Name a card costing up to $6. The opponent to your left guesses whether it's in your hand. If he guesses right, you gain a copy of that card. If he guesses wrong, you gain a copy of any other card costing up to $6."

So it's a double-mindgame of "does he have that card" and "does he want me to guess right or wrong"

I like that mind game.  But it's probably overpowered on boards where you don't care so much.  If you're running any kind of two-card engine like Festival/Library or Worker's Village/Conspirator or Fishing Village/Wharf, it may not matter so much which component you get that turn.  Especially if you can afford to buy a copy of the other one in your buy phase anyway.

[eHalcyon]

Take away the cantrip, and how about:

"Name a card costing up to $6. The opponent to your left guesses whether it's in your hand. If he guesses right, you gain a copy of that card. If he guesses wrong, you gain a copy of any other card costing up to $6."

So it's a double-mindgame of "does he have that card" and "does he want me to guess right or wrong"

I posted a suggestion very close to that just a little above...

[Kahryl]

Take away the cantrip, and how about:

"Name a card costing up to $6. The opponent to your left guesses whether it's in your hand. If he guesses right, you gain a copy of that card. If he guesses wrong, you gain a copy of any other card costing up to $6."

So it's a double-mindgame of "does he have that card" and "does he want me to guess right or wrong"

I posted a suggestion very close to that just a little above...

I totally didn't mean to copy. I didn't read the rest of the thread 

[Kahryl]

Thinking my idea over, it seems too boring anyway. Does my opponent really care whether I get a gold or a nobles, nobles or a lab, lab or a gold? He should have a reason to sweat it.