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[One Armed Man]

If we assemble modified versions of the cards I submitted to the Rinkworks Mini-Set Design Contest, you can form a fan set. This set has 17 cards currently. 2 Victories, 3 Attacks, 1 Reaction, no treasures.   This set has 20 cards currently. 2 Victories, 4 Attacks, 2 Reaction, 1 Treasure. Costs 2-7 are represented and there is a potion card.

These cards appear to have strong abilities for one strategy, but restrictions (explicit or gameplay-wise) make them better for a more complex strategy. A working theme for this set is "Coronation", the idea that all the cards are leading up to the crowning of a King or Queen. I only got that from a reading of the names "Drawbridge, Magistrate, Surveyor, Scribe, Herald, Foyer, and Regent". I don't have the peer group to test this with in person.

Edit (10/8): I have developed a "cards in hand" theme, especially with regard to card type and specific cards. There is targeting specific cards in hand, cards that you can discard instead of discarding multiple cards, having specific types of cards in hand, and plenty of interaction with the "draw up to" card of the set.

Here are the cards:

Drawbridge
2
Action-Reaction
+2 Coin. +1 Buy. Discard a card.
---------------
When one or more cards enters your discard pile on another player's turn, you may reveal and discard this from your hand. If you do, trash one card that enterred your discard pile, gain a card of the same cost, and +1 Card.

This responds to all but 2 attacks (Ghost Ship and Bureaucrat) in the game (and both attacks so far in the Rinkworks set, so I decided not to submit it). This also responds to Vault, Governor, and the Beggar reaction. Turning Curses into Coppers, Estates into 2 cost actions (like itself), and un-Swindling any other cards in your deck. It can quickly transition you from trashing to other cards or adjust the number of villages you need in your deck. If there are no cards of that cost, you can use this to trash it and gain nothing. Late game, it can make a $5 action discarded from a Rabble into a Duchy, etc. The top ability was chosen as another protection against junky decks.


Magistrate
2
Action
Choose 1: +2 Cards or +2 Actions.
Trash this card. Move the Magistrate token to the top of a non-Magistrate Supply pile.
--
Cards from the Supply pile with the Magistrate token have no effect when played. At the beginning of each player's Buy phase, that player can discard from their hand any number of cards from that pile for +$1 each, +$2 each instead if they are Kingdom cards.

It basically makes the supply pile with the token into a Silver, or a Copper if it is a non-Kingdom card. There are controls against using this on Province, Estate, Curse, or Copper for much benefit. This turns powerful (or weak) kingdom cards into a non-terminal silver. People haven't liked not being able to play their cards (without getting the discard bonus) in the past. It can be a control against a powerful opening or a player getting more than you of a powerful card. It lets you turn your Alt-VP cards into Harems or better. Some people are worried about people holding onto their Magistrates so that they can move the token the final time. Is that an acceptable strategy? Is it better than the return-to-supply method, where the card can get played the whole game and doesn't contribute as much to a piles ending? Does this need a clarification that it can be placed onto an empty supply pile?

Feoffee
2
Action
Trash up to 2 cards from your hand. If you trashed 2 cards that share a type, gain a card costing up to $5 that shares a type with both the trashed cards. [Types include Action, Curse, Treasure, and Victory]

This works best with $4 or $5 alternate treasures, Duchy or other VP rushes that don't mind trashing, and general trashing. It isn't the best at trashing Curses. This gets a slight boost in Dark Ages. It can trash only one card if needed. I thought about it being weak at $3, so I am trying it at $2 for now so that you can get a bunch of this and upgrade them.


Surveyor
3
Action
Draw until you have 7 cards in hand.
________________________________
While this is in play, you cannot buy Treasure cards.

If this set has a theme, it is "Cards that have strong abilities for one strategy and restrictions that make them better for another." This would be a great BM card without the Treasure restriction, but this version makes it useful getting Victory and Action cards, especially megaturns.


Scribe
4
Action
+$2
Reveal at the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the Curses in your hand, discard the Victory cards, place all Actions on the top of your deck in any order, and place all Treasure cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.

Another Curse hater. This card doesn't give you the choice or flexibility that other deck improvers have. It may leave 2 terminals on top of your deck and shove your Gold/Platinum to the bottom. This isn't a cure-all, you usually have to have a good engine or a deck filled with Green (or Purple) to make this card better than Navigator.

Rat Catcher
4
Action-Attack
Choose 1: trash any number of cards from your hand and gain a Curse, putting it in your hand; or trash up to one Curse from your hand, and each other player gains a Curse, putting it in his hand.

A Curser/Chapel. I do wonder how this will play. Do you trash a CCEE hand and gain a Curse? Does that decision depend on whether your opponent bought a Rat Catcher, too. Note that I submitted this name to the contest well before Dark Ages was spoiled. This card has an interesting Rats interaction anyway. This card is weaker at Cursing than Sea Hag; it counters itself somewhat. It empties the Curses quickly and trashes them quick, too. Its weak Chapel effect has no weakness when there are no Curses left, and that is intentional, so that you can grab one of these late and clean up your deck. 

District
46
Victory
Worth 1VP for each non-Treasure card you have 54 or more copies of.


A Victory card with admitted problems in 4player. It makes every race for good Actions and Victory cards interesting. You have to get 6 of a card to guarantee your opponent won't get it too. It is a consolation for losing the Cursing race without a way to trash them. It works well with 2 cost actions you can piledrive, like Hamlet and Pawn and with gainers. I haven't played enough 4 player to know whether getting 2 cards that other players are not getting is viable with this, but alt-Victory cards are often ignorable anyway. Unknowingly, I had copied an earlier card by jimjam for the contest. This version is somewhat different. I might adjust or replace this. editted: 10/18. Now you don't need to compete for every action card in 2p. You only need to have the average amount of victory cards in 2 or 3 player and only need one additional Estate.


Foyer
4
Action
+2 Cards, +2 Actions, +$1. Discard 3 cards or 1 silver.

Thanks to razorborne for his idea for "Discard 3 cards or 1 silver" from the Storeroom card. I did what I call the "Lab to Bazaar" transformation. Now it looks less like a modified Warehouse and more like its own thing. Like Whitesmith, this can work with Silver gainers. It is strong, but playing it more than once a turn is risky  (like Inn) in many decks.


ManufactoryRefuge
5
Action
+2 Cards, +1 Action
If there are no cards on your Manufactory mat, set aside an Action or Treasure card from your hand onto your Manufactory mat or reveal a hand with no Actions of Treasure cards. Otherwise, take a card from your Manufactory mat and place it in your hand.

 editted: 10/18
A Lab variant. The first play of each game is similar to +2 cards, +1 actions, Native-Village a useful card from your hand. Then, every other play is +3 cards, +1 action, worth the +2 cards, +1action on average, making this a strong Haven-Lab hybrid if you intend to use 2 or more of there in a thin deck. The "Action or Treasure card only" restriction makes it a more interesting choice and weakens it a bit. This will let you manage the card types in your hand for Army, Herald, Foyer, Feofee and Rat Catcher.

Marquise
6
Action-Attack-Victory
+3 Cards
Each other player discards a Victory card from their hand or reveals a hand with no Victory cards and gains an Estate and a Copper.
---------------------------------
Worth 1 VP for every 2 Estates in the supply.

A fancy alternate Victory attack. Playing this in multiples will likely work better as an attack but not as a Victory card. If your opponent has no way of getting +Buy and isn't going for VP rush, this is worth VP so that you want it late, not early and you might not want to use the attack part. Compared to Nobles, it might be worth similar VP and has an Attack instead of the +actions option, but the attack gives VP! In multiplayer, it starts out worth more VP, but the VP it is worth declines more quickly. It is a counter to Action-Victories and Treasure-Victories. It is weak to Tunnel.

Regent
7
Action
Reveal and set aside all cards from your hand in any order. For each set aside card, choose 1: place it on top of your deck, play it if it is an action or treasure, discard it, or trash it.

A wacky card I haven't submitted anywhere else. It essentially gives you as many +actions as Actions in your hand, trashes what you don't want, and puts everything else where you want it to be, one by one. Whether you want this or something else depends on your deck, but I am not exactly sure when it is strong yet.

Purification
2P
Action
+1 card, +1 action, +1 buy
Discard or trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing less than it, putting it in your hand.

A random potion card. A slightly stronger version of this was my highest ranking card of the set design contest, so I decided to post it here, as well. I made it to have an interaction with every potion card in Alchemy.



Here are some additions added 9/24/12.

Arena
4
Action
You may discard a card from your hand. If you do, +1 card, +1 action.
Any number of players can reveal a Duchy from their hands. If you do, gain an Arena and 2 SilversSpoils. If no one else does, +1 card.

A mini-Tournament. I really don't know exactly what the prize should be, but I like including an Arena with the prize. Duchies can run out quicker, but they are not often bought before Provinces. This may provide incentive. It works with Count, Duchess, and Duke.
editted: 10/18 Now with Spoils!

Crown
6
Treasure
Worth $2
When you gain or play this, you can discard a non-Victory card from your hand. If you do, gain a copy of the discarded card.

An improved version of my submission to the Treasure contest. I thought of the name when I posted this thread and figured any coronation needed one. The addition of the on-gain gave this some tactics, flexibility, and strength I think it needed. Get an extra copy of a card you didn't need in your hand. Have $9 in hand? Buy this and get a free Gold.

Here are some additions/changes added 10/8/12.
Herald
3
Action
+1 Action
Reveal your hand.
If you reveal an Action card, +1 Action.
If you reveal a Treasure card, +$1.
If you reveal a Curse, gain a card costing up to $3.
If you reveal a  Victory card, +1 Card.

I improved Herald for games without Curses and made it less likely a player would buy Curses for it. The options you are likely to get average around $3.5 in worth, but if you design the deck around it, you can do better. With Action, Treasure, and Victory, this is now a Bazaar. If you are being cursed, this will help by giving you Heralds, Silvers, or Victory cards and assist the balance of your deck. Decks start out with 7 treasures and 3 victory cards. Crafting a balance with the actions may make for an interesting dynamic. The bonuses now line up with Ironworks and Co.

Warlord
4
Action-Attack
+2 Cards
Each other player reveals their hand. Choose a card from each revealed hand4 cards from their hand. Choose a revealed card from each other player. That player choose one: discard that card, or you gain a copy of that card.

People thought the old version was too close to Jester. Now you get more choice of what to gain, and your opponent can stop you by discarding the card. It somewhat encourages buying enough terminal actions that having to discard one isn't a big loss. I am working on how this scales for large games. I think if multiple people are attacking you this way, eventually there will be nothing good for other people to try to gain, and the piles may run out. One thing I can change to weaken the card is have the target reveal all but one card from their hand.

Artisan
4
Action
+1 Action
+$1
While this is in play, non-Victory cards cost $1 less.

Artisan now works the other way, making shenanigans possible without the confusion of cards going back and forth in cost. This one compares a bit to Quarry, but this has its effects in the action phase. Until greening in a normal deck, this acts like a silver. Buys, trash for benefit/upgrading, Minion, draw up to, Conspirator, Thief/Pirate Ship/ Noble Brigand, Foyer, etc. make this different compared to silver that only is a copper with victory cards.

Army (Formerly Assassin)
5
Action - Attack
+3 Cards.+4 cards Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Choose 1: +1 card; or You may haveeach other player with 5 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of Army cards you have in play. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

 editted: 10/18
This version doesn't have the Moat confusion, the King's Court or mass village problem, etc. It isn't perfect, but I think it captures the growing threat idea while making every card in the other player's hand matter.

Champion
6
Action
+1 Buy, +$5.
Discard 3 cards or 1 Champion.

In the design challenge, this card intimidated with its large number, but don't be threatened by it. It is strong when multiplied, or in crazy decks that can draw themselves over multiple times; it can do a Vault impression of removing 3 cards from your hand to gain $5, discarding all but a Gold from your hand for a province turn; it can help with a draw engine; A silver helps this reach $7 if you have to. A well-trashed deck with only one of these wouldn't want to discard 3 cards. Compare the "discard 1 champion" to something like Festival + Goons, and the "using two 6 cost cards and an action to get $5 +1 Buy" seems weak. It gets beat by discard attacks and has "frenemies"; I made a chart. I have removed the +1 Buy from Artisan, so putting it here makes sense.

Guarded Village
3
Action-Reaction
+2 Actions
+$1
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Discard one of them. Put the other one on top of your deck.
-------------------
When another player plays an Attack card, you can discard this to gain a Guarded Village, placing it on top of your deck.

In the design challenge, I posted this at $4 for fear that gaining villages might be too strong, but compared to Fishing Village, I think $3 is fine. Putting this in and updating Herald kicked out Township.


Mayor
4
Action
Gain a Silver, placing it on top of your deck.
Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Draw one, trash one, discard one, and place the other back on top.
Each other player chooses one for themself: +1 card, trash a card from their hand, gain a Silver.

This probably isn't "in" the set because I have no idea how balanced it could be. The wording could be improved. I just thought of combining all the little bonuses cards give opponents onto one card. This could be worth 5. I don't know. I don't want +action because it is too much like Governor. A modified JOAT/ Lookout that cannot be forced to trash a Colony. The opponent gets to do one of the things you get to do.

Removed in their current form:

Township
3
Action
+3 Actions
At the beginning of your Buy step, if you do not play any actions after this card, gain an Action card costing up to 4.

This is a little weak, too. It works as an Action gainer and a village to make use of the gained Actions. I tried it out and it seemed a little weak for most purposes, being best at gaining cantrips at the beginning of the game in untrimmed decks. If +3 actions is fair at $2, it seems okay at $3. It even has something to do if you draw it with no actions. There is another 3 cost village on the way and another added to the set now. This seems unspectacular, so it is cut for now.

Herald
3
Action
Reveal your hand.
If you reveal a Victory card, +1 Action.
If you reveal an Action card, +$1.
If you reveal a Curse, +1 VP.
If you reveal a Treasure card, +1 Card.

I have a huge aversion to cursers. I would like good defenses to them. This is a peddler variant that makes Curses into VP generators (that occasionally prevent you from getting the other bonuses). This has an interaction with Action-Victories and Treasure-Victories. I feel that Ironmonger from Dark Ages covered this territory pretty well.

Whitesmith
4
Action
+2 Cards. Reveal any number of Silver cards from your hand. +1 Action for each Silver revealed.

Another in card that seems like it would be for BM or for engines, but it really doesn't know its place. It was made to interact with Silver gainers. In a previous thread, setting megaturn seems to be its best use, but it is strong when you are just trying to make it a cheap Lab for a trimmed deck, too. Less relevant for the set now, Foyer covers its role and more cards are becoming $4.

Warlord (formerly Tribe)
5
Action-Attack
+$2
Each player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. You choose 1 for them to discard and put the other back. If any non-Victory cards are revealed, you may gain a copy of one non-Victory card revealed this way.

DXV mentioned in his secret history of Oracle that discarding one of 2 cards from the top of the deck was bad, but I am not sure whether he meant for a 3 cost terminal drawer or in general. To test that, Warlord acts as a gainer that can grab a copy of the valuable cards opponents have in the midgame while getting rid of them. Reacting to this card with Moat or Secret Chamber reduces the odds that Warlord will pull up a card worth gaining. I think this scales better in multiplayer than Jester.

Artisan (formerly Philanthropist)
5
Action
+$3
+1 Buy
While this is in play, Victory cards cost +$1.

I am not sure about whether to keep this one, but I have kept a version of all of my other contest entries. The card works better with Throne Room effects than other terminal money. It provides a +Buy when needed. Victory cards cost +$1, so this can make trash for benefit, upgrading, and other effects more interesting with your Victory cards. It has a hindrance on gaining multiple victory cards in a turn.

Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.

[One Armed Man]

Does anyone have any comments, questions, or concerns? It has been a week and no one has posted anything else. Drawbridge, Foyer, and Regent are new. Others have been modified since the contest: Feofee, Scribe, Artisan, Warlord, District, and Purification. Whitesmith is back to an old form.

Regent
7
Action
Reveal and set aside all cards from your hand in any order. For each set aside card, choose 1: place it on top of your deck, play it if it is an action or treasure, discard it, or trash it.

With Regent, I realized later that you can get a lot of drawing from a "draw up to" card or Minion because the other cards are set aside, not in your hand. Is that too good with that kind of card and too weak without? Just too good?

[eHalcyon]

Drawbridge -- I don't like the wording, "when one or more cards enters your discard pile", and I don't like how much it does in response.  The +1 Card is superfluous, at the least.  I might also question why you should gain a card, but at the least it is interesting in that it block Cursing attacks, it only mitigates them.  I would suggest:

When a card enters your discard pile (other than during your clean-up phase), you may discard this from your hand.  If you do, trash that card and gain a card of the same cost.

- when more cards enter your discard pile, you simply hold onto the reaction and reveal it for the one card you want to trash.
- +1 card is superfluous, so drop it.
- timing change allows it to combo with discarders on your own turn, which is interesting.

I'd also question the main effect.  It is Woodcutter, discard a card.  I wonder if the discard is enough to drop it to $2.  Maybe, but I'm not sure.



Foyer -- Neat.  I find it difficult to judge, but I think this would interesting to test.



Regent -- Wacky indeed.  I think it is probably strong more often than not.  Plus, might be a LOT of AP if you have to order the cards in advance.



Feoffee -- I don't think you need the "types include" clarification.  I think this might be too strong for $2.  Consider Trading Post -- trash any two, gain Silver.  Feoffee still does not if you trash 2 Copper.  You can still trash two Estates, for a Duchy.  You can choose to trash a single card, if there's only one you want to trash.  So in some ways it is less flexible than TP, in some ways it is more flexible.  I think I would start testing it at $3, and maybe move it up to $4.

Scribe -- Probably fine.

Artisan -- Probably fine, but it's hard to say.  The penalty is not really a penalty during the early and mid game.

Warlord -- I think I would like it better if gained the card you put back (only if it is non-victory).  Then you have to choose between hurting their next turn or getting something good.

District -- Probably OK.

Purification -- Not a huge fan of the discard/trash-gain thing.  The vanilla bonuses are just Market Square.  I think I would maybe buy this if I really wanted the +Buy, and rarely when the gaining makes for a good combo.  But in general, this looks too tame for a potion card.

Whitesmith -- What is a whitesmith?  I think this is probably too strong.  It can be a $4 Lab very, very easily.

[rinkworks]

Drawbridge
2
Action-Reaction
+2 Coin. +1 Buy. Discard a card.
---------------
When one or more cards enters your discard pile on another player's turn, you may reveal and discard this from your hand. If you do, trash one card that enterred your discard pile, gain a card of the same cost, and +1 Card.

I guess that's fine?  I suspect the usefulness of the Reaction ability will be limited (there aren't that many enablers; Tunnel probably has 3-4 times as many, including all the ones for this), but the action part might stand alone well enough.  I dunno, though, even that's pretty weak, really.  It might be better if you could figure out how to widen the net.

Nitpick:  +1 Buy comes before +$2.

Magistrate
2
Action
Choose 1: +2 Cards or +2 Actions.
Trash this card. Move the Magistrate token to the top of a non-Magistrate Supply pile.
--
Cards from the Supply pile with the Magistrate token have no effect when played. At the beginning of each player's Buy phase, that player can discard from their hand any number of cards from that pile for +$1 each, +$2 each instead if they are Kingdom cards.

This is pretty crazy.  It's tough to know how this will play, but my best guess is that it is too political (target a player by hitting his cards) and too swingy.  With a key power card on the board, like Witch, the winner may be just whoever has the better shuffle luck in having Witch and Magistrate come up at the right times.

Feoffee
2
Action
Trash up to 2 cards from your hand. If you trashed 2 cards that share a type, gain a card costing up to $5 that shares a type with both the trashed cards. [Types include Action, Curse, Treasure, and Victory]

Probably fine.  Duchies don't help that much early.  2xCopper for Silver is strong, but the fact that the Silver doesn't go in hand is a big deal.  I'm thinking $2 is right.

Township
3
Action
+3 Actions
At the beginning of your Buy step, if you do not play any actions after this card, gain an Action card costing up to 4.

Not thrilled here.  The two pieces anti-synergize early on (despite synergizing later), and the consolation prize isn't strong enough.  Bumping the cost limit to $5 would be too much.  The thing is, if, as you say, the best use is to gain cantrips, what do you need the +3 Actions for?

Here's the thing about non-drawing +3 Actions cards:  normally you've got five cards in your hand.  If your action density is so tight that you can play a non-drawing +3 Actions card and actually make use of those actions, then either you are too dependent on shuffle luck to line up your +3 Actions card with your terminals (the case when most of your Actions are terminal), or you don't actually need the +3 Actions card (the case when most of your Actions are non-terminal).

Contrast with vanilla Village, which distributes fewer +Actions over a larger pool of cards (as it draws a card to your hand).

There is a very narrow window of opportunity in there when a non-drawing +3 Actions card is desirable.  Most of the time it'll be a Necropolis you have to buy.

Now, the fact that the card gains Action cards does change the balance up a bit, inclining the player toward an Action-heavy strategy.  But I think it would be rare that you'd get use out of both halves.  Township-Smithy would be hard to fire, for example, without the Village also drawning; Township-Ironmonger wouldn't need the extra Actions; Township-Conspirator would be tricky too, and you'd never need the third +Action.  Etc.

Herald
3
Action
Reveal your hand.
If you reveal a Victory card, +1 Action.
If you reveal an Action card, +$1.
If you reveal a Curse, +1 VP.
If you reveal a Treasure card, +1 Card.

It's certainly strong in Cursing games -- probably too strong, as actually buying Curses might be a great strategy, especially if you can trash other stuff down.  I'm anticipating this to be degenerate, actually.  Maybe trash the Curses once you reveal them this way?

But I think the card is extremely underpowered in the absence of Curses.  The best you can do here is a Peddler effect, which is worth about $4 if it fires every single time.  Herald's $3 cost is only a tiny step down and yet is very much less reliable.  In the early game, you've probably only got a cantrip if you're lucky.  Mid-game, a card and a coin.  The risk of missing the full Peddler is great, and if you do miss -- no matter which piece is missing -- you get an effect that is strictly worse than Pawn.

Cards with uncertain benefits can have individual effects that are very much stronger than you allow when they are guaranteed.  Let's break Ironmonger down as the most comparable example among the official cards.

Ironmonger costs $4.  If you draw:

- an Action card - you get +1 Card, +2 Actions, and a Spy-effect.  That's probably worth $4.
- a Treasure card - you get +1 Card, +1 Action, +$1, and a Spy effect.  That's probably worth $5!
- a Victory card -- you get +2 Cards, +1 Action, and a Spy effect that probably worked.  That's worth $6!

True, Ironmonger busts when you hit a Curse or a Hovel, at which point Ironmonger becomes the rough equivalent of a Vagrant, but that's rare.  This is counterbalanced by the insane bonuses dual-type cards give you.  The above three cases are by far the most common and average out to a $5 effect.  But since the effects are unpredictable, you get it for $4.

Herald's average (in the absence of Curses) is probably a lot less than $3, and you still have to pay $3.

Surveyor
3
Action
Draw until you have 7 cards in hand.
________________________________
While this is in play, you cannot buy Treasure cards.

Could be great in engine decks, but you have to be careful with it or you could find yourself starved for an economy.  I like it.

Whitesmith
4
Action
+2 Cards. Reveal any number of Silver cards from your hand. +1 Action for each Silver revealed.

If you've got Silvers, you probably don't need Actions so much.  What are the odds that the winning deck is one that has the precise split between Silvers and Actions that you need to make this card work?  I'd rather go BM-X than load up on terminals I can't play reliably.  That said, the +2 Cards does make it pretty compelling, as it would often be a cheap Lab, and when you can make it a Lab+Village, that could be a big deal.  Maybe this will work after all.  I think it's worth trying out.

I'm pretty sure I commented on this card elsewhere in this forum.  Did I?

Scribe
4
Action
+$2
Reveal at the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the Curses in your hand, discard the Victory cards, place all Actions on the top of your deck in any order, and place all Treasure cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.

I like the aesthetics of this card, but I worry that actually playing it out would be too fiddly.  Grouping Actions together and Treasures together could be a strong and interesting effect, though; if it works out in practice as it does in theory (which I'm not sure about), this could be nice.

Rat Catcher
4
Action-Attack
Choose 1: trash any number of cards from your hand and gain a Curse, putting it in your hand; or trash up to one Curse from your hand, and each other player gains a Curse, putting it in his hand.

Interesting but difficult to foresee how it will play out.

Foyer
4
Action
+2 Cards, +2 Actions, +$1. Discard 3 cards or 1 silver.

Another interesting card.  When the Silver hits, you're doing well; when it doesn't, it's marginally weaker than a post-purchase Inn (which feels like a $3 effect).  The balance is probably right, especially given how much more likely you are to have a Silver after drawing.

District
4
Victory
Worth 1VP for each non-Treasure card you have 5 or more copies of.

I don't like how swingy this is.  When a pile is contended, it's often down to shuffle luck whether they split evenly or not.  This card would encourage such races and perhaps unfairly skew the VP count based on the results.

Warlord (formerly Tribe)
5
Action-Attack
+$2
Each player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. You choose 1 for them to discard and put the other back. If any non-Victory cards are revealed, you may gain a copy of one non-Victory card revealed this way.

The fact that it scales differently than Jester would make it really weird when Jester is also present.  I don't know if that's weird in a bad way, but I guess the other thing is I don't much see the point of doing a card that's as close to Jester as this is.

Artisan (formerly Philanthropist)
5
Action
+$3
+1 Buy
While this is in play, Victory cards cost +$1.

Not sure if this is an interesting fluctuation of power level as the game goes on, or if it's just too powerful early on for the decrease in power later to matter.  I think it's worth a shot, though.

Note that you could run into some weird timing issues with Highway and Bridge.  With enough of those to hit $0, you could wind up with two different prices for each card, depending on whether you do the plusses first or the minuses first.  It doesn't help that the minuses have different timings (Bridge timing is different from Highway/Artisan timing), so you'd have to figure out how all that would work.

Manufactory
5
Action
+2 Cards, +1 Action
If there are no cards on your Manufactory mat, set aside an Action or Treasure card from your hand onto your Manufactory mat or reveal a hand with no Actions of Treasure cards. Otherwise, take a card from your Manufactory mat and place it in your hand.

Stronger than Lab?  Not sure.  The mandatory set-aside when the mat is empty does nerf it a bit, but I don't know how much.  Is there a way to get more than one card on the mat at a time?  I can't think of one, which makes it weird how it's worded to allow that.

Marquise
6
Action-Attack-Victory
+3 Cards
Each other player discards a Victory card from their hand or reveals a hand with no Victory cards and gains an Estate and a Copper.
---------------------------------
Worth 1 VP for every 2 Estates in the supply.

Super swingy.  Could be a Province; could be an Overgrown Estate.  I'm not sure that counting leftover Estates is interesting in any case.  I'd rather see this be worth a fixed amount -- say about 2.  I know that makes the card less dynamic and removes the "should I / shouldn't I?" tension with regard to whether or not to play it.  But I really think this is one of those cases where the idea looks great on paper and fizzles in actuality.

I think one of the big problems is that this card will be worth the same for everyone.  That makes it hard to eke out a substantial advantage with strategic play.  But I'm not sure that's the extent of the problem, either.

Regent
7
Action
Reveal and set aside all cards from your hand in any order. For each set aside card, choose 1: place it on top of your deck, play it if it is an action or treasure, discard it, or trash it.

Most of the time the top-deck option won't be desirable, and the discard option is essentially status quo for everything but Tunnels.  So that boils the card down to "play the good stuff; trash the bad stuff."  Seems pretty strong to me, but it does cost $7, so it ought to.  I can't really guess at how balanced or unbalanced this is.  I do like that despite doing whatever you need it to, it's a situational card:  usually you can "play the good stuff" anyway, and trashing is most effective when you can do it earlier in the game than when you can afford a $7 card.

Purification
2P
Action
+1 card, +1 action, +1 buy
Discard or trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing less than it, putting it in your hand.

Donald has talked about how "remodel to hand" cards have never worked for him (Mine excepted), despite giving chances to several different variations.  This is more of a downgrader than an upgrader, though, and I honestly don't know if that fixes the problem or not.

[eHalcyon]

Silver in hand, OH RIGHT.  OK, Feoffee is fine.

[One Armed Man]

Drawbridge
2
Action-Reaction
+2 Coin. +1 Buy. Discard a card.
---------------
When one or more cards enters your discard pile on another player's turn, you may reveal and discard this from your hand. If you do, trash one card that enterred your discard pile, gain a card of the same cost, and +1 Card.

I guess that's fine?  I suspect the usefulness of the Reaction ability will be limited (there aren't that many enablers; Tunnel probably has 3-4 times as many, including all the ones for this), but the action part might stand alone well enough.  I dunno, though, even that's pretty weak, really.  It might be better if you could figure out how to widen the net.

Nitpick:  +1 Buy comes before +$2.

I never noticed about +Buy coming first. Anyway, Drawbridge is enabled by every type of attack. Fortune Teller/Rabble discard from your deck. Thief, Knights, etc. discard cards from your deck. Discard attacks discard from your hand. Junkers and Cursers make the gained cards go to the discard pile. Swindler/Jester discard a card from your deck. To EHalcyon, the +1 card is so that you are encouraged to use the reaction, which involves discarding it. If it was Trader-like, where you could do it unlimited times, it could become crazy in games with Rabble, Minion, or Fortune Teller.

Herald could use a change. A card like Peddler shouldn't be printed at 4, since it is nearly always a good buy. Herald is an almost-Peddler in the right deck. Maybe something could give it a buy or trash. Maybe "If you reveal a Curse, trash a card from your hand". Part of me liked the idea of making Curses into VP gain. To make that mode strong enough to encourage buying it, I think that you need to have sufficient hand size increasers to play at full power Herald every turn. If you only have a curse and 2 of the other card types, you get "+1card, +1action, +1VP" or "+1 card, +1coin, +1VP" or "+1 action, +1 coin, +1 VP", none of which is gamebreaking (the cantrip VP is obviously not a card effect that would be printed by itself).

Purification
Not a huge fan of the discard/trash-gain thing.  The vanilla bonuses are just Market Square.  I think I would maybe buy this if I really wanted the +Buy, and rarely when the gaining makes for a good combo.  But in general, this looks too tame for a potion card.

The un-tame part of it is that it lets you discard or trash. You can discard a Province to gain a Gold in hand (like a Explorer you can only use once) or a Potion to gain a Silver in hand. Potion cards often can break rules other cards can't.

Warlord -- I think I would like it better if gained the card you put back (only if it is non-victory).  Then you have to choose between hurting their next turn or getting something good.

I think it would be weak if they get to keep the card you gain. If that was the case, you would only want to gain extra copies of cards from your own deck or when both cards an opponent revealed were good. As is, you can gain your own or an opponent's card.

Misc. comments: Whitesmith was posted in my first thread "3 Actions That Make Silver Shine"

[eHalcyon]

To EHalcyon, the +1 card is so that you are encouraged to use the reaction, which involves discarding it. If it was Trader-like, where you could do it unlimited times, it could become crazy in games with Rabble, Minion, or Fortune Teller.

My suggestion still has you discard Drawbridge, so it wouldn't become crazy.

I think if you want to encourage use, I would prefer a "set aside" mechanic instead of +1 card.

[Jack Rudd]

One Armed Man plays a Militia
...gaining $2
...Jack Rudd discards two cards
...Jack Rudd reveals a Drawbridge
......revealing a Peddler from his Discard Pile
......trashing the Peddler
......gaining a Province
......Jack Rudd draws a card

[One Armed Man]

Here are some additions.
Arena
4
Action
You may discard a card from your hand. If you do, +1 card, +1 action.
Any number of players can reveal a Duchy from their hands. If you do, gain an Arena and 2 Silvers. If no one else does, +1 card.

A mini-Tournament. I really don't know exactly what the prize should be, but I like including an Arena with the prize. Duchies can run out quicker, but they are not often bought before Provinces. This may provide incentive. It works with Count, Duchess, and Duke.


Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.


Crown
6
Treasure
Worth $2
When you gain or play this, you can discard a non-Victory card from your hand. If you do, gain a copy of the discarded card.

An improved version of my submission to the Treasure contest. I thought of the name when I posted this thread and figured any coronation needed one. The addition of the on-gain gave this some tactics, flexibility, and strength I think it needed. Get an extra copy of a card you didn't need in your hand. Have $9 in hand? Buy this and get a free Gold.

[rinkworks]

Here are some additions.
Arena
4
Action
You may discard a card from your hand. If you do, +1 card, +1 action.
Any number of players can reveal a Duchy from their hands. If you do, gain an Arena and 2 Silvers. If no one else does, +1 card.

A mini-Tournament. I really don't know exactly what the prize should be, but I like including an Arena with the prize. Duchies can run out quicker, but they are not often bought before Provinces. This may provide incentive. It works with Count, Duchess, and Duke. \

Unlike with Tournament, I actually think the opponent-reveal reward is (usually) better than the one you get for revealing a Duchy yourself.  I don't know if that's good or bad.

It's tough to gauge this one.  It seems a little weak, but maybe that's just in comparison to Tournament, which after all gets you prizes.  It could well be, though, that in practice this lubricates your deck just enough to make Duchy rushes winning strategies.  (I also like how Tournaments can power these up.)  But it's just too hard to predict.  My best guess is that unless you go for a Duchy rush strategy, this isn't going to be enough incentive to make you buy occasional Duchies to power this up.

Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.

That's a really cool idea, both the "2 cards or 1 Copper" thing and the attack.  But I'm not sure the attack half is balanced, due to the potential for hard pins.  If you've got this in an engine deck with plenty of Villages, your opponents may never get to play their key cards again.

Crown
6
Treasure
Worth $2
When you gain or play this, you can discard a non-Victory card from your hand. If you do, gain a copy of the discarded card.

Pretty strong.  But losing the chance to play the card you duplicate could be just enough to balance this.  The "non-Victory" restriction is obviously important here.

[One Armed Man]

Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.

That's a really cool idea, both the "2 cards or 1 Copper" thing and the attack.  But I'm not sure the attack half is balanced, due to the potential for hard pins.  If you've got this in an engine deck with plenty of Villages, your opponents may never get to play their key cards again.

Each time you use this card without having enough actions, an opponent can reveal only junky cards that get them down to 3 cards, where they are "safe". If you can only manage Village Village Assassin, your opponent reveals 2 cards and protects their 3 best. Then, you play 2 more villages and an assassin and they have to reveal 3 of the remaining 4 cards of their hand, keeping only one best card (or a secret village to tempt the opponent into taking a Gold over colliding terminals, etc.) If a player can get +5 Actions (in addition to the 1 for the Assassins) before any discard attacks, then they could take any card out of your hand. Those extra +Actions are probably not going to be used by the end of the turn. A weaker version would only discard once: "Each other player with 5 or more cards". A discard, then draw line would make every play of this threatening, which I don't think is best.
I also find it interesting that the card can be used without villages, since they are not in every board. A mini-Embassy effect is not bad.

[rinkworks]

Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.

That's a really cool idea, both the "2 cards or 1 Copper" thing and the attack.  But I'm not sure the attack half is balanced, due to the potential for hard pins.  If you've got this in an engine deck with plenty of Villages, your opponents may never get to play their key cards again.

Each time you use this card without having enough actions, an opponent can reveal only junky cards that get them down to 3 cards, where they are "safe". If you can only manage Village Village Assassin, your opponent reveals 2 cards and protects their 3 best. Then, you play 2 more villages and an assassin and they have to reveal 3 of the remaining 4 cards of their hand, keeping only one best card (or a secret village to tempt the opponent into taking a Gold over colliding terminals, etc.) If a player can get +5 Actions (in addition to the 1 for the Assassins) before any discard attacks, then they could take any card out of your hand. Those extra +Actions are probably not going to be used by the end of the turn. A weaker version would only discard once: "Each other player with 5 or more cards". A discard, then draw line would make every play of this threatening, which I don't think is best.
I also find it interesting that the card can be used without villages, since they are not in every board. A mini-Embassy effect is not bad.

I would agree that a hard pin would be tough to pull off, and even then is unlikely to be as dominating as KC-KC-Goons-Goons-Masq.  But it's not implausible, either.  It's not that uncommon to load up on Villages in moneyless engines, even more than you technically need, because they do no harm and buying Silver would clog you up.  And with KC on the board, building up to lots of +Actions is easy.  Moreover, the possibility of a hard pin would encourage people to go for those superfluous +Actions when otherwise they might not bother, so the chances of this happening are larger than the odds players naturally build up to +5 Actions without the incentive.

It's a subjective judgment call, and there is no fine line.  For me, the risk feels too great.  If it doesn't feel that way to you, by all means give it a shot and report back.  I do genuinely like the ideas in this card, and I agree with you that the obvious "fixes" don't seem like desirable changes.

[GendoIkari]

Assassin
5
Action - Attack
+4 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of +Actions you have remaining. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

A combination of some gimmicky ideas I had. The attack gets much better the more extra actions you have available. Because this card digs so far into your deck, you may find more Assassins, terminals, and villages that will change how strong the next Assassin is. This is likely less painful than a Torturer chain, but the potential to Pillage repeatedly with lots of Fishing Villages is there.

That's a really cool idea, both the "2 cards or 1 Copper" thing and the attack.  But I'm not sure the attack half is balanced, due to the potential for hard pins.  If you've got this in an engine deck with plenty of Villages, your opponents may never get to play their key cards again.

Each time you use this card without having enough actions, an opponent can reveal only junky cards that get them down to 3 cards, where they are "safe". If you can only manage Village Village Assassin, your opponent reveals 2 cards and protects their 3 best. Then, you play 2 more villages and an assassin and they have to reveal 3 of the remaining 4 cards of their hand, keeping only one best card (or a secret village to tempt the opponent into taking a Gold over colliding terminals, etc.) If a player can get +5 Actions (in addition to the 1 for the Assassins) before any discard attacks, then they could take any card out of your hand. Those extra +Actions are probably not going to be used by the end of the turn. A weaker version would only discard once: "Each other player with 5 or more cards". A discard, then draw line would make every play of this threatening, which I don't think is best.
I also find it interesting that the card can be used without villages, since they are not in every board. A mini-Embassy effect is not bad.

I would agree that a hard pin would be tough to pull off, and even then is unlikely to be as dominating as KC-KC-Goons-Goons-Masq.  But it's not implausible, either.  It's not that uncommon to load up on Villages in moneyless engines, even more than you technically need, because they do no harm and buying Silver would clog you up.  And with KC on the board, building up to lots of +Actions is easy.  Moreover, the possibility of a hard pin would encourage people to go for those superfluous +Actions when otherwise they might not bother, so the chances of this happening are larger than the odds players naturally build up to +5 Actions without the incentive.

It's a subjective judgment call, and there is no fine line.  For me, the risk feels too great.  If it doesn't feel that way to you, by all means give it a shot and report back.  I do genuinely like the ideas in this card, and I agree with you that the obvious "fixes" don't seem like desirable changes.

If I'm reading it correctly, it should be very easy to pull off a pin (though it's not a hard-pin). KC-KC-Village-Assassin-Assassin... You take away any 2 cards from their hand that you choose. A decent engine could play this every turn easily. And Village could be any Village, so it wouldn't be hard for this to come up.

[One Armed Man]

If I'm reading it correctly, it should be very easy to pull off a pin (though it's not a hard-pin). KC-KC-Village-Assassin-Assassin... You take away any 2 cards from their hand that you choose. A decent engine could play this every turn easily. And Village could be any Village, so it wouldn't be hard for this to come up.

It actually requires only one Assassin card (if it is King's Courted). I have been thinking about other ways to change the card.

The scaling could be based on something else other than +Actions, maybe the number of Action cards you have in play (with 5 or more cards in hand).

This discarding could take place at the end of your Action phase (which requires 2 Assassins to properly pin post KC).

There could be a non-scaling version of like this, which is usually much stronger:
Each other player with 4 or more cards in their hand reveals 3 cards from their hand. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

[One Armed Man]

I made changes, additions, and removals to the original post. The removed cards and old versions are moved to the bottom of the original post. Here are some new cards. I am sick of waiting for the posting of the results. The votes are already in, and I trust rinkworks.

Herald
3
Action
+1 Action
Reveal your hand.
If you reveal an Action card, +1 Action.
If you reveal a Treasure card, +$1.
If you reveal a Curse, gain a card costing up to $3.
If you reveal a  Victory card, +1 Card.

I improved Herald for games without Curses and made it less likely a player would buy Curses for it. The options you are likely to get average around $3.5 in worth, but if you design the deck around it, you can do better. With Action, Treasure, and Victory, this is now a Bazaar. If you are being cursed, this will help by giving you Heralds, Silvers, or Victory cards and assist the balance of your deck. Decks start out with 7 treasures and 3 victory cards. Crafting a balance with the actions may make for an interesting dynamic. The bonuses now line up with Ironworks and Co.

Warlord
4
Action-Attack
+2 Cards
Each other player reveals their hand. Choose a card from each revealed hand. That player choose one: discard that card, or you gain a copy of that card.

People thought the old version was too close to Jester. Now you get more choice of what to gain, and your opponent can stop you by discarding the card. It somewhat encourages buying enough terminal actions that having to discard one isn't a big loss. I am working on how this scales for large games. I think if multiple people are attacking you this way, eventually there will be nothing good for other people to try to gain, and the piles may run out. One thing I can change to weaken the card is have the target reveal all but one card from their hand.

Artisan
4
Action
+1 Action
+$1
While this is in play, non-Victory cards cost $1 less.

Artisan now works the other way, making shenanigans possible without the confusion of cards going back and forth in cost. This one compares a bit to Quarry, but this has its effects in the action phase. Until greening in a normal deck, this acts like a silver. Buys, trash for benefit/upgrading, Minion, draw up to, Conspirator, Thief/Pirate Ship/ Noble Brigand, Foyer, etc. make this different compared to silver that only is a copper with victory cards.

Army (Formerly Assassin)
5
Action - Attack
+3 Cards. Discard 2 cards or 1 copper.         
Choose 1: +1 card; or each other player with 5 or more cards in their hand reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of Army cards you have in play. Each other player discards one revealed card you choose.

This version doesn't have the Moat confusion, the King's Court or mass village problem, etc. It isn't perfect, but I think it captures the growing threat idea while making every card in the other player's hand matter.

Champion
6
Action
+1 Buy, +$5.
Discard 3 cards or 1 Champion.

In the design challenge, this card intimidated with its large number, but don't be threatened by it. It is strong when multiplied, or in crazy decks that can draw themselves over multiple times; it can do a Vault impression of removing 3 cards from your hand to gain $5, discarding all but a Gold from your hand for a province turn; it can help with a draw engine; A silver helps this reach $7 if you have to. A well-trashed deck with only one of these wouldn't want to discard 3 cards. Compare the "discard 1 champion" to something like Festival + Goons, and the "using two 6 cost cards and an action to get $5 +1 Buy" seems weak. It gets beat by discard attacks and has "frenemies"; I made a chart. I have removed the +1 Buy from Artisan, so putting it here makes sense.

Guarded Village
3
Action-Reaction
+2 Actions
+$1
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Discard one of them. Put the other one on top of your deck.
-------------------
When another player plays an Attack card, you can discard this to gain a Guarded Village, placing it on top of your deck.

In the design challenge, I posted this at $4 for fear that gaining villages might be too strong, but compared to Fishing Village, I think $3 is fine. Putting this in and updating Herald kicked out Township.


Mayor
4
Action
Gain a Silver, placing it on top of your deck.
Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Draw one, trash one, discard one, and place the other back on top.
Each other player chooses one for themself: +1 card, trash a card from their hand, gain a Silver.

This probably isn't "in" the set because I have no idea how balanced it could be. The wording could be improved. I just thought of combining all the little bonuses cards give opponents onto one card. This could be worth 5. I don't know. I don't want +action because it is too much like Governor. A modified JOAT/ Lookout that cannot be forced to trash a Colony. The opponent gets to do one of the things you get to do.

[One Armed Man]

I added sketches I had used for an earlier game of mine. They look quite bad editted and blown up to this size. You can see the card images here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tz3gtpbnmkwl29k/L50_r2jqFC

What is the easiest way to post the images individually to the original post?

I threw in one more card: Racketeer
5
Action-Duration-Attack
Each other player gains a Curse.
Now and at the start of your next turn: +$1
---------------------------
While this is in play, when you would gain a Curse, instead gain an Estate.

Due to the amount of Curse hate in the set, I figured one curser was not enough. I wanted a weak $5 curser, but not one that is irrelevant when other cursers are out (because cursers are the strongest class of cards, a weak one would sometimes be relevant). To make it relevant, I wanted it to respond to other cursings. This version suffers a bit from the First-Player advantage, but it does less than Sea Hag does. Racketeer lets you buy Estates for free (until Estates or Curses run out). Racketeer may make the Cursing pile last longer than most cursers because it is a Duration and sometimes Estates are given out. When Estates are gone, no cards are gained at all (I might change that). When a curser is played when the Curse pile is empty, this card doesn't replace the gain. Upon further inspection, it is quite strong, though it delays the money benefit and misses reshuffles.

[One Armed Man]

Sorry for the quadruple post. The Original Post will be updated soon.

Playtest Report
Drawbridge was alright. Once, I used it to turn a discarded Duchy (that I got turn 4 from a Feofee) into a Racketeer, which was very nice. It gets a whole lot better with more opponents sending more attacks. The primary effect was sometimes as good as Woodcutter, but other times we either couldn't afford the action or had nothing worse that a Silver in our hands. I noticed that Drawbridge doesn't respond to Rat Catcher or Minion (I think) attacks.

Feoffee was very fun. It helped Arena decks get their first Duchy, it trashed well (when bought early). Once, a player trashed a Feoffee and Arena for a 5 cost action. Another time, 2 Curses were trashed to gain a Curse. There was a plan to use Artisan to reduce Gold to $5, but it didn't work out.

Magistrate was used to ban Upgrade, Racketeer, and Gold. Banning cards wasn't that effective and I think stronger players could use Magistrate better. A player felt that when their card was banned, it took too long for them to buy and get a Magistrate in hand to move the token.

Crown was popular. It was bought for 9 to get an extra gold and it was used with colliding terminals. It was often a pain to have $7 in your hand including a crown, because Silver+Duchy was weak. In this set it is better because of the self-synergy of cards.

Herald was fun. We didn't buy it as an opener, on turns 3-5 more like a village. It was a Bazaar about half the time. Once each, it was with a hand of 4 treasures, followed by a turn of 4 actions.

Artisan didn't have good comboes and wasn't very popular. I tried tricky things like combining it with Upgrade to turn Estates into 4 cost actions, but I never got the Upgrade because I bought +buy instead. It does not combo with Champion.

Surveyor was good. It needed village support to be very useful. The inability to buy Treasures didn't seem like a major problems when there were $5-6 actions or victories to be bought.

Guarded Village was weak in 2p and better in 3-4p. When defending against Cursing, I sometimes wanted to keep Guarded Village in my hand so that I could afford something that turn rather than slightly improve my deck. I think one player got 6 over the game, having only bought 1 or 2.

Foyer was fun if played correctly. One player lost because they had fewer Silvers than Foyers, forcing them to discard too much good stuff. Playing 2 Foyers without finding any actions or silvers left a hand of 1 card. Other times, it made decks run extremely smoothly,tucking Silvers in the discards so they could be shuffled back into the deck after each draw-engine turn.

Arena was interesting. There were two "Arena decks" played and they were able to accelerate due to the Arena and (massive) silver flood (one won, one lost). Sometimes, we wanted to discard Duchies late game instead of discarding money because the benefit can't include VP and isn't as immediate as Tournament. I am changing the 2 Silvers to 2 Spoils.

Mayor wasn't as threatening or game-shortening as I feared. It was not popular. I tried playing Double Mayor like Double Jack, and the benefits for the opponent made their engine work too smoothly to properly race.

Rat Catcher was bought a little too late to be very useful. When curses ran out, it was used to trash hands.

Warlord (reveal entire hand version) was "wacky". People discarded "out of spite" sometimes to prevent people from gaining things. Everyone bought them and they were the first empty pile. People were getting so many terminal actions this way they collided every turn. To tone it down, I changed the number of revealed cards from the whole hand to 4.

Army (slightly updated) was okay alone and great as its own deck. With villages and buys, an Army deck dominates by digging deep enough in the deck to find the next component. Getting the 5th Army and enough villages to use it took time, but sometimes getting to discard the best card out of a hand is worth far more valuable than the 2nd best.

Racketeer was a curser. It was very strong, but I don't own Witch or Mountebank to compare it to.

Marquise was used in 3 and 4p games and the 2 and 4 that were bought decreased in value from 5VP to 2VP over the game. There was interaction with Racketeer.

District ($4 version) was awful. Once, I got it the old version and never got my deck to the point where it was worth any points at all. I increased the cost to 6 and only requiring 4 of the card for VP, which made it more reasonable.

Champion was average once and great once. It guaranteed $6 when there were not hand-size attacks; when it appeared in a Gold-Gold-Silver-Champion-Province hand, it just felt awkward. When it was used as part of a Regent-Champion-Surveyor combo, it worked great.

Regent was the only trasher one game. It slowly allowed a player to trash a few cards a turn, gradually leading up to a crazy engine deck that could have been built better to make a really quick draw engine. It combines well with the other cards in the set.