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[lympi]

I taught Dominion to some folks this past week. Two friends and one of their mothers. Everyone really liked it, which is always great, including the mother (who I figured wouldn't really get it, but she wound up winning, so there you go).

Anyway, as I usually do when teaching new people, at the end of the game I whipped out the Randomizer deck to show everyone (really just the mother) the other cards from the base game. Throne Room got some oooohs and ahhhs, and Witch got some gasps when I revealed the Curse card, but then we came to Chancellor.

I have two questions for Chancellor:

• How do you explain the purpose of Chancellor to new players?
• Why is Chancellor in the base set?

Obviously only Donald can answer #2 definitively, but I'm sure some of us have theories. To me, it seems like it would fit better elsewhere. It synergizes with Counting House in Prosperity. It complements Intrigue's "choice" theme. And it definitely has an effect on your next turn, ala Seaside.

"What's the point of Chancellor?" Mom asked.

I tried to explain to her that it acts as a sort of "deck accelerator" and helps with "cycling" and that entire articles had been written about it, but by then she had moved onto figuring out the math of Gardens.

[sherwinpr]

From Donald X's "The Secret History of the Dominion Cards" (which can be found in these forums):

Chancellor: When Valerie got her copy of the game at Origins 2007, she also got a copy of the first expansion as I had it then. So when cards left the main set, she knew all about those expansion cards, and on one occasion nominated this card to be swapped into the main set. I think she was looking for another +coins card, to provide another anti-Thief option. I really like having the card in the main set, as it's simple but subtle. New players are always like, huh? Why would I want to do that?

Emphasis is mine.  Valerie is a reference to Valerie Putman (I believe she contributed to the development of the game and helped demo it for RGG at Origins), but inessential to understanding what he's saying about the card here.

[Kirian]

I tried to explain to her that it acts as a sort of "deck accelerator" and helps with "cycling" and that entire articles had been written about it, but by then she had moved onto figuring out the math of Gardens.

I think the simplest explanation is this:  "OK, let's say you're able to buy a Gold this turn.  Normally, it goes into your discard, and sits there until you reshuffle.  If you played Chancellor, you can instead make your deck reshuffle right now--meaning you could pull the Gold into your hand next turn!"

[Arya Stark]

its a game about shopping, of course the mother would get it   

[lympi]

From Donald X's "The Secret History of the Dominion Cards" (which can be found in these forums):

Chancellor: When Valerie got her copy of the game at Origins 2007, she also got a copy of the first expansion as I had it then. So when cards left the main set, she knew all about those expansion cards, and on one occasion nominated this card to be swapped into the main set. I think she was looking for another +coins card, to provide another anti-Thief option. I really like having the card in the main set, as it's simple but subtle. New players are always like, huh? Why would I want to do that?

Emphasis is mine.  Valerie is a reference to Valerie Putman (I believe she contributed to the development of the game and helped demo it for RGG at Origins), but inessential to understanding what he's saying about the card here.

Bah. Clearly I should have re-read some Secret Histories before posting. It's been so long since I read the base set one.

So I've decided in the future when a newbie asks what's the point of Chancellor, I'll tell them "it's tough to explain, you'll just have to play more Dominion to figure it out."

I feel like that's a very "Dad" answer, which would have been fitting to tell the Mom who asked the question.

[Kuildeous]

I think the simplest explanation is this:  "OK, let's say you're able to buy a Gold this turn.  Normally, it goes into your discard, and sits there until you reshuffle.  If you played Chancellor, you can instead make your deck reshuffle right now--meaning you could pull the Gold into your hand next turn!"

I think that this is the best explanation. Accelerants and cycling are concepts that will just have to come naturally as players grok the game. But, if you explain that you have a good chance of getting your new cards sooner, then that should click.

Ask a simple question: You know that Gold/Festival/Militia/whatever card you just bought? Would you rather get it next turn or 3 turns later? While it's not a 100% chance you'll get that card next turn, it's still greater than 0%, which is what you have if you do not put your deck in your discard pile (assuming the player isn't going to reshuffle this turn anyway).

[Davio]

Everytime I play with new players, I see they have the same "a-ha erlebnis" once they get a bought card into their hands.

They think: "Hey, I bought this and now I can play it!"

To explain the usefulness of Chancellor, I only have to expand on this telling them they get to play their good cards more often since they don't have to wait longer. Of course, they still have to shuffle more often, which they might not like.