(It's time for another set of cards. I actually started writing out this post about 4 days ago, but it just took so long to get everything down!)Artifacts (and associated cards):As indicated in the Flavour Text, you go out early each morning looking for valuable items. These items are Artifacts, similar to those from Dominion: Renaissance. However, these Artifacts are grouped together with a sub-type: Artifact-Gem. (I considered having Artifact-Gem appear in the top-right corner of the landscape cards, but the text ended up very small. Instead, using the "Heirloom banner" option in shardofhonor's card creator looked decent.) By creating this sub-type of Artifact, it opens the design space to create other sub-type Artifact groups (maybe a set of Artifact-Weapons, Artifact-Coins, Artifact-Pottery, etc.) with similar but slightly varying features and setup.
There are times that all Artifact-Gems will be in a game, and other times that only 1 or 2 will be. When all of them are available, there is also a Gem Store. Setup and rules are detailed below. Similar to Artifacts from Renaissance, there is only 1 of each Artifact, which can sometimes be taken by others. But while you have it, you have a certain benefit. Sometimes this happens at start-of-turn, and other times it triggers at other points.
Additional Rules:(in addition to all "Official Rules" about Artifacts from Dominion: Renaissance)
- If only Kingdom cards from New Dawn are being used this game, the Artifact-Gems and Gem Store are all used. If a mix of Kingdom cards from New Dawn and other sets is being used, then the use of Artifact-Gems and Gem Store should be determined randomly, based on the proportion of New Dawn cards in use. For example, choose a random Kingdom card being used - such as the last card dealt from the Randomizer deck - and if it is from New Dawn, use all Artifact-Gems and Gem Store. Do not use the same card to choose whether or not to use Shelters as you use to choose whether or not to use Platinum and Colony (from Prosperity) or Shelters (from Dark Ages).
- If Gemologist is one of the Kingdom cards, all Artifact-Gems and Gem Store are included in the game, even if they were not selected randomly as described above.
- Additionally, individual Artifact-Gems are included in a game if a specific Kingdom Card requires it (e.g. if Emerald Miner is in the game, the Emerald Artifact-Gem is also available), but this does not trigger the addition of the Gem Store or other Artifact-Gems.
Gem Store and Gemologist:Gem Store
(communal mat)
You may buy any Artifact-Gem from this store for $8.
In your Buy phase, you may trash a Gold and Silver and discard 2 other Treasures, all from your hand, to take any Artifact-Gem from another player.
Gemologist
$5 - Dawn
Choose one: +3 Cards; or play any number of Treasures from your hand and pay all your $, then if you paid at least $6, take any one Artifact-Gem (from the Gem Store or another player).
Gem-type Artifacts and Cards that let you take them: Sapphire
Artifact-Gem
When a card instructs you to gain a card up to a certain cost, you may gain a card costing $1 more than that cost.
(This does not affect "gain a card costing $? more than...")
Sapphire Miner
$2 - Dawn-Action
If it's your Dawn phase, take the Sapphire. Otherwise, gain a card costing up to $3.
Emerald
Artifact-Gem
When the first card is played each Dawn phase, if an Estate is on this then gain it or return it to the Supply; otherwise set aside an Estate on this from your hand or the Supply.
(Cards on this belong to no player, and stay with it when taken.)
Emerald Miner
$3 - Dawn-Action
If it's your Action phase, take the Emerald. Otherwise, gain a card costing up to $4 and if it's a Victory card, +$1.
When you gain this, put your hand onto your deck.
Rhodonite
Artifact-Gem
At the start of your turn, discard up to 3 Dawn cards, revealing them. +3 Cards per card discarded.
Rhodonite Miner
$3 - Dawn
+1 Buy
+$2
Take the Rhodonite.
Ruby
Artifact-Gem
At the start of your turn, you may discard a Ruby Miner. If you do, draw until you have 7 cards in hand. Otherwise, draw until you have 6 cards in hand.
Ruby Miner
$4 - Dawn-Action-Attack
If it's your Dawn phase, take the Ruby, each other player with at least 4 cards in hand discards one. Otherwise, each other player discards an Action or Treasure (or reveals a hand without any).
Topaz
Artifact-Gem
Once per turn, at the start of your Buy phase, you may get +$1 for each card you played during your Dawn phase.
Topaz Miner
$4 - Dawn-Treasure
If it's your Dawn phase, +$2. Otherwise, +$1, take the Topaz, you may return to your Dawn phase.
Amethyst
Artifact-Gem
At the start of your Action phase, you may return any number of Curses from your hand to their pile. Gain a Copper to your hand for each Curse returned.
Amethyst Miner
$5 - Dawn-Action-Attack
If it's your Dawn phase, take the Amethyst, each other player may discard a Curse from their hand and if they don't, they gain a Curse to their hand. Otherwise, +1 Card, +$1, each other player gains a Curse.
Diamond
Artifact-Gem
At the start of your turn, choose a card that the player to your right gained on their last turn. You may gain a cheaper card to your hand that shares a type. If you do, each other player gains a copy of the card you gained.
Diamond Miner
$6 - Dawn
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1
You may trash a card from your hand to take the Diamond.
Onyx
Artifact-Gem
At the start of your Clean-up phase, you may set aside one Dawn card (face up) instead of discarding it
Onyx Miner
$6 - Dawn-Action
If it's your Dawn phase, +2 Cards, take the Onyx. Otherwise, +3 Cards, +1 Action, discard 2 cards.
Discussion points and explanationsOverall, this set of cards was the first set that I designed for this full expansion. As such, the Dawn-type cards (specifically those that are only Dawn, rather than multi-type) may not be at a fair power level compared to Dawn cards released earlier. Some may require a reduction in cost, a buff to their abilities, or the addition of fail-safes (reaction ability, turned into multi-type, etc.). Feel free to provide feedback on any of these types of things. I'm willing to make changes.
Gem Store is a place to store Artifact-Gems that have not yet been taken. It also gives instructions for how they can be taken. Absent of Kingdom cards that let you gain the Artifact Gems, you can buy one directly from the Gem Store for $8. This is expensive, but they are not meant to be easy to get - and in some games, most or all of them may remain in the Gem Store all game. Sometimes you get an early $8 with only a single Buy, and it's too early to start greening. It's at these times that one of the Artifact-Gems might pair well with your strategy for the game.
But because of how hard it is to buy one (that cannot be gained by a Card), it is even more costly to take one from someone (usually who paid this $8 to get it). In order to get it from them, you need to trash a Silver and Gold, and discard 2 other Treasure cards. This could potentially cost you only $7, but you have then lost a Silver and Gold from your deck. I had considered needing to pay something to the person you're stealing from in this manner, as compensation. But this was not thematic with searching for and taking Artifacts, and sometimes life in Dominion is tough and unfair.
I know the ability to take one from someone else who paid $8 for it can be seen as political/targeted, which is generally taboo in card design. But I don't see that this would happen very often at all in these games. I feel it's fair enough here. It's just a question of whether I have the right cost to Buy from the Gem Store, and the right penalty in order to steal from someone else.
Gemologist is a catch-all card able to make taking the Artifact-Gems a little easier than getting them straight from the Gem Store's text. It uses text from Storyteller, forcing you to play, then spend Treasures in your Action phase, if you want to take one of the Artifact-Gems, and it doesn't matter at this point where you take it from (because others can just get this card as well and take it back from you this way).
Alternatively, or for times when you don't have enough money to take an Artifact-Gem, you can draw 3 cards instead. However, like all Dawn cards, when played in the Dawn phase they effectively have +1 Action. So this is actually a Super-Lab, for the price of a Laboratory, but only if you start with it in your hand (or draw another one with another Gemologist or similar). But this restriction to Dawn phase applies to the Artifact-Gem taking ability too.
Sapphire (and Sapphire Miner) - The Artifact really empowers any Workshop variant, turning a gain of a card costing up to $4 into a gain of a card costing up to $5 (or things like Vampire and Artisan gain a card costing up to $6). These pairings will happen from time to time, and will make the Sapphire very sought after, especially when Sapphire Miner in play (which will likely also make it contested, though it's only helpful if it can be played in your Dawn phase). In games without Sapphire Miner, getting the first $8 to buy it from the Gem Store might become very important. But when it is less competitive (absent of Workshop variants), the Artifact basically turns the Card into a $2 Workshop for the person who holds it. Even so, when you draw it in your Action phase instead of your initial hand, you can at least still gain a Silver, Village, or other $3 card. It should be noted that the Artifact only modifies Workshop variants ("gain a card costing up to X"), rather than Remodel variants ("gain a card costing up to X more than...").
Emerald (and Emerald Miner) - The Artifact is an early-game way to get rid of your Estates and a late-game way to get an extra Estate or two in case those couple points make the difference. It does activate slowly, as it takes 2 triggers to complete each of the cycles, but it can trigger on every single person's turn so that does help. This might seem overpowering in 4+ player games, but then you also potentially have that many more people trying to take the Artifact from you, so it should balance a little.
For the Emerald Miner, it is one of a few of these cards that do not take the Artifact in the Dawn phase. Basically everything on this card feels a little mixed up (compared to other Artifacts and associated Kingdom cards), including a "when-gain" triggering you to put your hand onto your deck (rather than to put the gained card onto your deck) - partly mirroring the opposing effects in can be used for, changing from start of game to end of game play with the Artifact. I'll have to play a few games with it to see if these things make sense, or if I need to make things feel a little more traditional. Also, playing off the Emerald (green) theme, if the card is used to gain a Victory card, it gives you an additional benefit of $1, which isn't great for Estates, but works very well with Alt-VP cards like Mill and Gardens (and just imaging this combined with the Sapphire!)
Rhodonite (and Rhodonite Miner) - The Artifact will vary in power based on what Dawn cards are in the game. But assuming there will be occasionally some that are mediocre, even when you actually draw them in your initial hand to be able to use in your Dawn phase, it still might sometimes be worthwhile to discard them this way for a double-Lab, starting your turn with 3 new (so a net of 2 more) cards in hand. And this can stack! Since someone will rarely have more than 2 or 3 or 4 at the start of your turn, I debated not having a limit on the number of cards you can do it with... but then with Tactician, or even to a lesser extent other Duration-draw cards, I felt a limit was needed. Maybe a limit of 2 would be better, as that still could result in starting your turn with 9 cards.
For the Rhodonite Miner, having a potential of so many cards in your starting hand, you will sometimes have a lot of coins. A simple +Buy made sense - welcome back Woodcutter simplicity. But it's a Dawn-only card now, and is paired with the Artifact. So a few extra coins to go with the Buy is always helpful.
Ruby (and Ruby Miner) - This Artifact will generally draw you at least 1 extra card to start your turn, but can draw more if you're willing to discard a Ruby Miner (hand-reducing Attack card) or if you've been attacked by such a card. If you end up with 2 Ruby Miners in your starting hand with the Artifact in play, it makes sense to discard one of them for the extra draw. Otherwise, you'll have to make the decision. In the Dawn phase, Ruby Miner will both let you take the Ruby and make opponents discard one card (if they have more than 3). But you have to play 2 of them to get the same effect as a Militia, without getting the coins. Alternatively, in your Action phase, you can play it to force opponents to discard a Treasure or Action card, which can be more damaging. And if you had a Village as well, you can even make them do this twice! This could be quite dangerous. However, the card doesn't do much else for you, so you will probably want to try and keep the Ruby, for its extra benefit.
Topaz (and Topaz Miner) - This Artifact can give you extra coins. Sometimes only 1 or 2. But if you can land things right, maybe quite a lot more. The Kingdom card is another one where taking the Artifact happens outside of your Dawn phase. But when playing it in the Treasure phase, when you can take the Artifact, it allows you to return to your Dawn phase. Sometimes this won't make much sense at all, but in many games, being able to return to your Dawn phase will allow you to play more Dawn cards, which might be a huge benefit. But since the Artifact triggers at the start of your Buy phase (but only once per turn), you may actually hit that point multiple times, and you will likely want to trigger it only the final time you enter your Buy phase for maximum potential benefit. But you will have to choose whether to play a Topaz Miner in your Dawn phase for extra coins (1 more on play, plus another if you have the Artifact), or if you save it for playing in your Buy phase to let you return to Dawn phase again. These two cards (Artifact and Kingdom card) really pair together well, and are even more powerful if there are other Dawn cards in play.
Amethyst (and Amethyst Miner) - The Artifact is a convenient way to exchange Curses for Coppers, which, while still junk cards, are noticeably better, especially since the exchange actually puts the Copper directly into your hand for use that turn. If you can play the Amethyst Master in your Dawn phase (which you'd probably want to if you don't yet have the Artifact), it acts as a Curser similar to Mountebank, allowing the discard of a Curse to not be attacked. But the gained Curse for those who do get one goes into hand, so if they get attacked again they become immune to the second hit. Alternatively, playing it in your Action phase is almost identical to the original Witch, just giving you +1 Card and +$1 instead of +2 Cards (so I maybe should modify this a bit more, but I'll leave it for now).
Diamond (and Diamond Miner) - The Artifact has similarities to Smugglers, but since you can gain a card every turn, it gains a weaker card rather than the same one. But a weaker card is not always that helpful, so it is gained to hand to be immediately used. To offset the potential power of this, everyone gains the same card (but only the person with Diamond gains it to hand). So if the previous player gained a Gold, you can get a Silver to hand (and everyone else gains a Silver as well). You could even junk everyone with this by gaining a Copper to hand, especially if you had something like a Moneylender in hand. Or if they gain a $6 Action, you can also gain a $5 Action to hand.
The Diamond Miner itself is a Peddler variant with optional trashing, played only in the Dawn phase. But if you do trash a card with it, you will take the Diamond (which I suspect will be a preference just about any time you don't have it already, even when you don't necessarily have something you want to trash).
Onyx (and Onyx Miner) - This Artifact is a catch-all saver for Dawn cards. If you drew one after your Dawn phase (and then didn't get to play it), you can set it aside during clean-up and then add it to your hand for the next turn, guaranteeing you can play it for the next Dawn phase. It just saves 1 though, so if you are drawing your whole deck regularly, don't buy too many Dawn cards (at least not Dawn-only). For the Kingdom card, if played in the Dawn phase, it's a Lab plus taking the Artifact. But if played in the Action phase, it's a filtering cantrip/Lab variant, drawing 3 cards but discarding 2 just like the Forum. Maybe that means a should modify it a bit, but I like the balance between the Dawn and Action play abilities so I'll leave it for now.
Overall, this set of cards creates the basis for this expansion, with the two main themes (and new mechanics) of Dawn cards and new Artifacts. The other cards were built and designed around them. The balance of different costs, different types of cards (Attack, gainer, trasher, labs and draw, extra Buy, and sources of virtual coin), and interaction between cards should be evident through this set, and balanced out by other cards inthe expansion.